Where Did the Time Go?
by tempermental artist
Summary: Kyo is having issues with asking Tohru out, and time is running out for someone...but who? PLEASE REVIEW!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Tohru opened her brown eyes to another glorious Saturday. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Kyo was sulking on the roof. Yes, it was perfect! She stepped out of her and onto something squishy.

"Ow!" it cried. Tohru looked down and saw Momiji lying in a sleeping bag at the foot of her bed.

"Momiji-kun! What're you doing here?" she exclaimed nursing his swollen hand.

"I came to play with you last night, but you were sleeping, so I thought that it would be mean to wake you up, so I went to play with Kyo-kun, but he was sleeping too. So finally I got my sleeping bag, opened your window and joined you!" he replied smiling. Tohru gave a sigh of relief and relaxed.

"And you call me a pervert?" Kyo yelled from the roof. Tohru smiled absentmindedly and thought about the fun day ahead.

"Hey Tohru-kun?" Momiji asked, "Who are you gonna go to the prom with?"

"…!" Tohru was stunned, "I don't know! No one's asked me yet."

"No one? That's not nice! They don't know what fun their missing!" he said shocked, making Tohru laugh.

"Ya know, this window really _is_ easy to break into," Kyo commented, making Tohru jump, "I mean even Momiji got in."

"Oh, really? I didn't know!" she said uneasily.

"Stop making Tohru-kun nervous, Kyon-Kyon!" Momiji shouted.

"Shut up!" she said, he went to hit him, but a stone flew in and hit him first, causing a steady line of curses to be released.

"Tohru!" someone called from outside.

"Uo! Hanajima!" she exclaimed. Tohru ran down the stairs, past Shigure, and into her friends' arms. They embraced each other and laughed.

"How's our little Tohru-kun doing?" Uo asked smiling.

"Very well thank you." She replied.

"They're feeding you well?" Hana asked.

"Yes. Did you guys eat? I'll make you some pancakes if you want! It's a new recipe I found on the Internet!" Tohru suggested.

"What's that _yankee _doing here?" Kyo asked, cutting her off, and making her panic.

"What's a feral animal like you doing here?" Yuki asked. Kyo whirled around, fists clenched. He growled and glared at Yuki, but then Tohru stood in his way.

"Please don't fight!" she pleaded.

"Of course not Honda-san." Yuki said flashing his winning smile. Tohru thought she heard someone sigh, but that was impossible, the Prince Yuki Club couldn't be here…right?

"Why would they?" Momiji said walking out of the door, "You've got me as a guest!"

"More like an intruder…" Kyo muttered.

"You say something, Orangey?" Uo shouted at him.

"Yes I did." he said turning to face her, "That you're a hopeless cause who needs a boyfriend!"

"Kyo…do you really mean that?" Momiji asked quietly.

"Yeah, I do!" he shouted at her, then stormed into the house and assumed his usual position on the roof. Uo looked like she was about to cry, and Tohru's heart was pounding.

"Uo-chan! What's wrong?" Tohru asked knelling next to her, "I'm sure Kyo-kun didn't mean it!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Hanajima asked, "She's in love with him." Tohru looked at her blankly.

"EEEEWWW!" She commented, "No way on Earth would I even _like_ that jerk!"

"Then what's wrong?" Tohru asked.

"You know that gut from the convenience store," she said, they nodded, "he said that he doesn't love me anymore."

"That's so horrible!" Tohru commented, "But Hana-chan… why did you say that she loves Kyo-kun?"

"I don't know…someone's waves were of affection towards Kyo-san." She shrugged. Tohru tried to quell her pounding heart as she paled.

"Tohru-kun? Are you okay?" Momiji asked.

"Honda-san?" Yuki asked. Tohru felt light headed, and then fell to the ground.

"Tohru!" Uo shouted.

"What do we do? What do we do? We killed Tohru-kun!" Momiji panicked.

"Quiet!" Yuki said. They all tuned to him, but he shrugged, and didn't know what to do either.

"We need a doctor." Hanajima said solemnly.

"Yes, where is the nearest doctor?" Uo agreed.

"We can take her to Hatori-san's house!" Momiji said; Uo and Hanajima looked skeptical at the idea of another Sohma.

"Do you want her to get any worse or help save her?" Kyo said, "Because all of you are standing around here like a bunch of pansies!" Kyo took her from the ground and started to run towards Hatori's house.

Along that way, he felt her forehead, and detected a slight fever. Tohru's face was flushed, and her breathing was slowing down, he needed to get her there soon! He paused and looked at her again. What did he care? It was just clumsy Tohru… why was she so important? What was wrong with him?

"Kyo?" she murmured, squinting up at him and trying to put his face into focus.

"Hey," he said gently, "I'm bringing you to Hatori-san's. He'll know what to do."

"Kyo?" she asked, her voice was just above a whisper. He looked down at her and then she passed out.

Hatori's house

"What happened?" Hatori asked as Kyo gently put Tohru down on an examining bed. Momiji and the others came into the house a few seconds later, panting, and heaving for breath.

"She just fainted," Hana told him, "And that's all we know."

"Unless something happened while you took her away from us?" Uo asked, indicating Kyo.

"No." he muttered. Kyo couldn't get her face out of his head; Tohru had looked to so fragile, like if the wind blew, she would shatter into a thousand pieces.

"I'll need to examine her." Hatori said seriously, and then he scooted them out of the examining room, "Good-bye now!"

He shut the door in Kyo's face as he was about to protest. With nothing to do they all found their way into his living room and quickly slipped into boredom. Yuki sat down with a book, but it was upside down, Uo and Hanajima sat in a corner and talked quietly, Hana's eyes stealing glances at Yuki. Momiji went into the kitchen and made a giant platter of sandwiches for them. Kyo faced the window and sat sulking. An hour passed, then two, and it was got to the point that Uo and Hanajima had to go home. When they had left, Hatori walked out.

"What took you so long?" Kyo demanded.

"Let's see," he said stroking his chin, "I had to wait for her to wake up, then tell her where she was, give her the drugs, do my analysis, and then wait for the return of the information."

"Why?" Yuki asked.

"Well…" he said sighing, "Tohru has a rare heart condition."

"What?" both Kyo and Yuki exclaimed at the same time.

"I'm afraid to say so. It's one that has a good chance of fatality. She may have a week to two months to live." He told them gravely. Kyo got up and stormed into the examining room.

"Kyo-kun!" she exclaimed happily. He dashed over and cradled her head in his arms.

"Tohru…" he said sadly.

"Kyo-kun, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" she asked squirming out of his grip and looking at him.

"Didn't he tell you?" he asked starting to shake.

"Tell me what?" she asked with a smile filled with confusion on her face. Kyo looked at her and caved. He just couldn't, he couldn't tell her what was going on.

"Honda-san!" Yuki exclaimed walking in, he shot Kyo an: 'At-least-I'm-walking-in-dignified' looked.

"Yuki-kun!" she replied smiling broadly. Kyo looked at him and glared at Yuki. All it took was for him to come in the room and she smiled like she was…in love with him. Yuki looked bewildered at how enthusiastic she was, and realized that she was clueless. Pertaining as to what had happened earlier. Yuki started to tremble too, and sank to his knees. "Kyo-kun? Yuki-kun? What's wrong with you?"

"Uh Tohru?" Hatori intervened, "How's about you take a nap? You've had a very busy day, and some sleep would do you some good."

"I guess you're right," she commented, "G'night." She put her head on the pillow and immediately fell asleep, quietly snoring. Kyo looked at her and couldn't help but think of an angel that had fallen from heaven.

"Kyo," Hatori said, "A word with you. Outside."

Kyo followed him out the door and then asked, "Why didn't you tell her?"

"Because," he replied, "You saw that face…smiling so brightly. I didn't have the heart to tell her either."

"Why?" he demanded.

"Because," he told him, "I couldn't live with myself if I had! I wouldn't be able to wake up in the morning and smile because I had made Tohru cry. That's why!"

"But what will happen if she dies?" Kyo pleaded, "Will she even know what's happening? Think about the consequences here!"

He laughed, "This is certainly a change! Usually I'm the one telling you to think… I mean how often is it that you're the one giving me some decent advice?"

"Hatori, this isn't funny." Kyo told him darkly, "All I want to know is if you think that she's going to make it."

"To tell you the truth, I think that she has a better chance of living if she doesn't have to visit me in over a month, she has a better chance of living. But this heart problem was caused by stress, I have to tell you." Kyo winced, probably from Yuki and his fighting all the time. "Kyo?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you like her?" he asked.

"Of course I like her."

"No, more than that, as in… love her?"

"Why are you asking me this?"

"Because you were the one who walked the mile to my house with her in your arms. Also due to the fact that you've been sulking a lot more, according to a source that shall go un-named. Last time you did that, you had a crush on a girl in the second grade, Uotani was her name I believe."

"Shigure doesn't know crap." He said defensively.

"I think he does," Hatori contradicted, "I think that he knows what's been going on in that head of yours."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You mother never told you?" Hatori grimaced as Kyo glared at him.

"If you're talking about the birds and the bees," he started, "I had a very long and detailed discussion about it with Shigure-san."

"At least he covered that part about growing up," he muttered, "No, what I'm talking about is that when you grow up, every member of the zodiac is meant to be with someone. Even the cat, but," he warned, "the cat shares the same loved one as the rat. Since the rat is always the first to realize that he has found love, while the cat is only slightly aware, you usually fall in love with the same person."

"Don't you mean girl?" he asked, dreading the fact that Yuki might love Tohru too.

"No, person." He replied.

"You mean that there have been…"

"Gay cats? Of course!" Hatori told him.

"…Eeewwww…." He replied making a face.

"What? It's natural Kyo. Get used to life's little quirks." Hatori stated.

"Not that…just that the rat's supposed to be perfect right? Then I'm pretty sure that the rat was also gay, huh?" Kyo sighed.

"And what is so wrong with the rat being gay?"

"I dunno."

"Learn this and learn this well, Kyo," Hatori told him seriously, "Being gay doesn't mean that something's wrong with you. Know that, because you will find out that this family isn't the pinnacle of perfection." Kyo shuddered and didn't answer.

Chapter 2:

"Good morning!" Tohru said happily as Kyo walked into breakfast the next morning. The stove was churning out a steady line of sausages and eggs, and the rice cooker was humming away.

"Are we having company?" he observed after rubbing his eyes.

"Yes…Momiji-kun, and Hatsuharu-san are coming to visit. I wonder why?" she replied, and then smelled the rice.

"What the-?" Kyo exclaimed as Momiji popped out of the pantry sprawled out with a box of sugary cereal.

"Momiji!" Tohru cried, "I thought that you were coming later!"

"I was," he said, "but the thought of you in this house with Kyon-Kyon all day long made me think how much pain you'd be going through, so I decided to drop by early!"

"Ya pesky rabbit!" Kyo cursed.

"Kyon-Kyon's mad!" he teased.

"Ah…I see that the fun has already begun without me," Shigure said walking into the kitchen and trying to look discouraged at Kyo, "I guess I'll just have to eat all of this food!"

"No," Yuki said, "Bad dog!"

"That isn't amusing Yuki." He replied flatly.

"Well, we have to make sure that Kyo is left enough food." Yuki told him.

"Hey!" Kyo protested, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You wouldn't understand, you stupid cat." He answered coolly.

"Good morning Yuki-kun!" Tohru interrupted as she dumped another load of sausages onto a plate.

"Mmm… something smells good," Hatsuharu commented. He popped one of the steaming sausages into his mouth and chewed with satisfaction.

"What is wrong with you?" Kyo asked looking at him with complete horror.

"Eh?"

"Oh, no! It's all right Kyo-kun! I have more in the fridge!" Tohru told him happily.

"Not that, it's just that, you're the cow-"

"Ox!" he interrupted.

"Whatever, the _ox_… do you even know what's in sausages?" Kyo exclaimed.

"Yup."

"And you're still eating it?"

"Watch." Hatsuharu said. He took the plate of fresh sausages, and in less then ten seconds had stuffed them into his mouth and chewed gratefully.

"You idiot!" Yuki exclaimed, "Honda-san spent her whole morning preparing those, and just because Kyo says something about eating meat, you swallow the whole plate?"

"She can make more…" he shrugged, picking his teeth and reclining in his chair.

"Uh-huh!" she agreed smiling.

"See?" Hatsuharu asked patting Tohru's head, "No harm done! She doesn't mind at all! What're you so spazzed about?"

"C'mere." Yuki said hauling him out into the hallway. He thrust him up against the wall and glared at him.

"What's up? I didn't know you were like this." He commented snickering.

"Look, Hatori-san said that she has a heart problem, caused by too much stress…making her cook all that food really is a big deal." Yuki said, "Tohru may not be with us for much longer…"

"Are you serious?" he asked, his eyes softening, "T-that she might die?"

"Have I ever lied before?" he replied letting him go.

"Well no, but this is different." He commented, "Is she ever going to get better? I mean it's not that I love her anything, but she's been a real source of hope for Momiji-kun and me. It would break his heart to see Tohru-chan get hurt."

"She would have anyway, what with Akito and his mood swings lately…"

"Oi!" Kyo said, "I hate to break up the happy couple, but breakfast is ready…sausage free thanks to you, Hatsuharu."

"Always a pleasure!" he said bowing.

"Kyo-kun!" Tohru called, "there's someone on the phone for you!"

"Little Catty-witty, got a girlfriend?" Hatsuharu teased.

"Shut-up." He said picking up the receiver. "Hullo?"

"Ah, my little monster, how pleasant of you to pick up!"

"Akito!" he exclaimed.

"Yes. It is me, and what I am calling about, is how come you lied to me?"

"Lied to you?" he asked taking the phone into his room. "What're you talking about? I never lied to you!"

"Oh yes you did," Akito said grimly, "You told me that you'd be able to beat Yuki-kun before you graduate. Kyo? This is the last two weeks of the school year… and I'm pretty sure that it's safe to say that you won't be beating him anytime soon, what with Tohru's illness."

"How did you know?" Kyo asked paling. A cold chill came over him as he thought that his and Yuki's fighting might have been the source of her stresses. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if she died. He'd had enough of feeling the blame for one death, the thought of his mother lying on the ground still haunted him t to this day, but if Tohru died, Yuki wouldn't be blamed since he was the rat, the cat would. It always was the cat's fault.

"A little dragon flew in and told me." He replied laughing, it sent a shiver down Kyo's spine.

"What do you care if she dies?" Kyo asked. It wasn't Hatori's fault; Akito would've forced it out of him anyway.

"Oh, you make is sound like I have no feelings of empathy towards others," he told him, "but a monster like you wouldn't understand empathy, would you?"

"…" Kyo was silent, he couldn't afford making Akito mad, he would just take it out on Tohru. Poor Tohru, at the mercy of Akito, and by her own will too. She was like Kyo's little sanctuary, he felt safe around her, like Akito couldn't tell him what to do anymore.

"I was just calling to know what colors you'd like for her to wear at her funeral? Orange or blue?"

"You leave Tohru out of this! She isn't going to die, and that's all I've got to say about this. So just let her be!"

"Is that an order?" he asked darkly.

"No, I'm…sorry."

"That's my little monster!" he exclaimed. Kyo could tell that he was smiling on the other line. "You'll be seeing me soon." And he hung up, leaving Kyo on the other end trembling.

"Kyo-kun?" Tohru asked knocking on the door, "Can I come in?"

"Sure." He said putting the phone on the ground and thinking of chucking it out the window. She walked in carrying a plate of food; on it was a fresh rice ball.

"I thought you might feel bad about me having to cook so much food all over again, so I brought you a special treat!" she said placing it on his bedside table. She turned to leave, and Kyo felt something in him, telling him to ask her to stay.

"Tohru?" he asked, and she popped her head back into the room.

"Yes, Kyo-kun?" she asked, "Do you want something to drink? I'm so stupid! I should've gotten that for you! Bad Tohru! Bad!"

He laughed, "No, just… do you want to-"

"Tohru-kun!" someone whined from down stairs.

"I promise, I'll be back as soon as I can!" she said, "Hold on one sec, I'll be right back!"

She bounded down the stairs and wondered what Kyo was about to asked her, when she walked into the kitchen.

"Tohru!" Momiji exclaimed. He ran over and hugged her, poofing into his zodiac form, "We missed you!"

"Indeed Tohru! Just five seconds and this place started to go haywire without your presence!" Shigure said smiling, "I hope Kyo-kun didn't _do_ anything to you.""It's not him we have to worry about." Yuki said looking up from his nearly finished plate of eggs.

"Oh no! He was just in his room…" Tohru said, that she thought, "That voice sounded a lot like Akito-san, I wonder if it was just me?"

"No, it probably was. He's the only one who calls here for Kyo." Hatsuharu said after swallowing, "Kyo isn't allowed to receive calls from anyone but Akito-san himself. I tried once and got such a pounding, Hatori had to send me to a hospital."

"Really?" Tohru asked, her eyes widening with concern, "Are you okay now?"

"Of course!" he replied laughing, after receiving the evil eye from Yuki.

"Well, what happened that you needed me?" she asked, getting back to the subject of the matter.

"Oh, well… we didn't know if you wanted the eggs on the stove for such a long period of time!" Shigure said, indicating the frying pan.

"Hmm? Oh! I'm, just letting it cook off the eggs juices, and then I'm gonna start on the sausages again." She replied, and then returned to Kyo's room.

She knocked, but no one answered, so she opened the door. His bed wasn't lumpy, so he couldn't have been in there, but the tray of food she'd brought up had disappeared. Where could he be? Ah! May be her food had poisoned him and he'd jumped out of the window looking for water! Or what if she had scared him away? Or what if-

"Stop panicking," he said jumping into his room from the roof, "I set it up on the roof, no worries."

"Um Kyo?"

"Yeah?"

"The roof's slanted."

"Not over my little balcony, it isn't!" he exclaimed happily, "I'll show you!" He grabbed her hand and helped her up onto the roof from his balcony. When she got up there, she gasped as she saw a little picnic blanket with the food laid out on it, with just enough room left for someone to sit.

"Wow, Kyo-kun! Did you ever think of becoming a chef? You can cook and display food so well!" she commented.

"You get a lot of practice after seeing the same food for three months. It helps make it look a lot more appetizing!" he said clearing a spot for her to sit. She laughed as he offered her some bread.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing, it's just that, I would've brought my food up too if I'd have known!" she laughed. He smiled and broke the bread in half, handing her the larger half. It was like her smile gave him a warm feeling.

"Hey Tohru?" he asked.

"Eh?"

"Are you going to the prom with any one yet?" he blurted.

"Kyo-kun, are you… are you asking me out?"

"Yeah, kind of." He said turning red. She slid over next to him and smiled, she too was quite red.

"I would love to go with you!" she exclaimed.

"Thank God!" he said kissing her.

Chapter 3:

"He what?" Uo asked when they were changing back into the uniforms after gym class.

"Yup!" she said squealing, "I dunno why, but he did!"

"This is very unexpected… I wonder if those waves of affection were coming from you that day?" Hanajima commented.

"Yes, they kind of were." Tohru said after slipping into her skirt.

"I hate these things." Uo said putting on the school's Mary Janes. She slipped them on and grimaced as she looked at her reflection in the mirror that had been previously occupied by the other girls.

"Uo-chan, you must be patient with the school, they have only just started letting the guys and girls have gym together." Hanajima said brushing her raven hair, and then pulling it back into a braid.

"Tohru-kun?" Uo asked, "Has he done anything to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Touch you?"

"Oh! Kyo-kun isn't like that! He'd never do that!" she protested.

"Well ya' never know. When a guy gets a girlfriend, he sometimes feels like he has a right to her body." Uo told her, "So if he does anything, you come straight to me? Okay?"

"Yes." She said as Uo opened the door for them to leave.

"Honda-san!" the teacher called. Tohru turned, "In my office!"

"I have to go now I guess, bye guys, I'll catch up with you later!" she called, and then followed the teacher into her office, as instructed.

"Honda-san, you were a bit sluggish today, that's not like you. Are you feeling well? Any problems that I need to know about?" she asked.

"Umm… Hatori-san, my doctor, I had to visit him over the weekend because I fainted, that's all I know." She said.

"He didn't tell you what had made you faint?"

"He kind of choked up when he was trying to tell me I think." She replied thinking.

"I think that you should see the nurse, just in case." She told her, "Here's a pass to get there!"

"Thank you sensei!" Tohru exclaimed as she walked out of her office and down the hall, into the nurse's office. Momiji was there, nursing a cut knee.

"Tohru-kun!" he exclaimed.

"Momiji-san!" she replied walking over.

"Honda-san, what are you being sent down for?" the nurse asked.

"I dunno." She said handing her the note on the back of the pass. The nurse read it over and sighed.

"I don't have the equipment for this, just give me the number of your doctor, and I'll talk to him about this." The nurse told her.

"Umm…"

"You don't know it do you?" she asked, Tohru shook her head.

"I do!" Momiji piped up, "He's my parent…well kind of. See I live with him, 'cuz my parents couldn't take care of me so they sent me to live my cousin, he's a great doctor!"

"That's all fine and dandy Momiji, but the number, please?" the nurse asked picking up the phone. Momiji rattled off some number and the nurse dialed.

"Yes, may I speak to Hatori Sohma? Oh! Pleased to meet you, I am calling about Tohru Honda, one of your patients? She's been sluggish, and can only say that she knows that she fainted… oh yes…I understand… and is it okay if she knows?" the nurse gabbed for about fifteen minutes, and then finally hung-up.

"Well? Did he say what happened?" Tohru asked.

"Yes, he said that you aren't allowed to participate in Gym anymore." She said.

"Why not?" she asked.

"That's confidential, and I was asked not to repeat that conversation with anyone, and that's all I'm saying." The nurse told her, "and by the way Momiji?"

"Yes?" he asked.

"Band-aids are in the top drawer." She told him, "Miss Honda, you may go back to your class now."

Tohru walked through the lonely hallways and thought about Kyo. He was such a kind person under all the…cattiness? He was just what she needed in her life right now, what with all this concern about her health. Why wouldn't Hatori-san tell her what was wrong? It couldn't be all that bad…could it?

She wandered the halls, and finally found the class she was looking for. Since it was the last two weeks of school, the administration had let them take whatever classes they wanted. Tohru had chosen a new one, she had decided to take a creative writing course, and it might help her scores on the finals. She smiled at the thought of finally graduating!

'_I did it mom! I'm going to graduate like I promised! I hope you'll be watching from heaven, mom!_'' she thought happily as she walked in.

The door seemed so loud as she opened it. A couple heads turned to look at her, one of which was Hanijima's. She smiled and handed the pass to the teacher and sat down next to her.

"I didn't know that you were going to take this course." Hanajima commented after finishing the sentence she was working on. The black ink that she was using glistened, and then faded into the paper.

"I thought that it would help me when we take those finals." She replied taking out a notebook. People were giving her weird looks, "Hanajima-chan? Why are they looking at me like that?"

"They think that you don't know what you're doing." She replied letting out a soft laugh, "I really do feel like I belong here."

"That's great Hana-chan!" she said. Hanajima smiled and showed Tohru the poem that she had been working on.

**L**ife,

What a wonderful thing it is,

Just one wrong move,

And yours is messed up.

**D**eath,

Also something to love,

Without it,

We are subject to endless years,

Of politics, and family get-togethers.

**W**e can't live without either,

So we can't die without the other.

"Wow! That's really good Hana-can!" Tohru exclaimed. Tohru, in blind inspiration, picked up her pen and tried to write something. In the first word, her pencil broke, and there was no sharpener. "That's okay! I have a pen!"

The pen died when she tried to rewrite the letter over, so she used highlighter, but hers was out of ink, so then she tried to write in colored pencil, but that broke too. By that, Tohru was shaking all over, in frustration or just plain laughter.

"Tohru-kun?" Hanajima asked, "Do you need a pen?"

Tohru smiled as she passed her a pen, and then totally forgot what she was going to write. So instead, she decided to draw a picture of Kyo! Scribble, scratch, a line here, a line there, shades in there, add a few more lines there… done!

"What do you think Hana-chan?" Tohru asked holding it up for here to see. It looked like an elementary kid had drawn it; it was just bordering stick figure.

"I think it's very good Tohru, I think Kyo-san will like it too." She replied smiling, and then drew a picture herself of Uo, Tohru and her, all together smiling.

"Wow!" the teacher said peering over her shoulder, "You've got quite some talent there, Saki-san."

"Thank you." She replied, turning a slight shade of red. Hanjima didn't like people seeing her artwork; she didn't think that they were very good. Everyone she had shown it to, though, had told her otherwise. "I'm actually thinking of becoming an art teacher."

"Really?" the teacher asked sitting down on top of the desk, on the other side of Hanajima, "I once thought of becoming an art student. But you have to have good grades, so how are your grades?"

"I have a little bit lower than I expected. An 'A-'." Hanajima said continuing to shade in the sketch.

"Oh, well I'm sure that you can get into any art school that you want!"

"I'll take that into mind." She said, ending the conversation. Tohru thought of Hanajima as a teacher, nonetheless and elementary teacher.

Tohru's imagination

Little kids running around, screaming, or doing whatever little kids do, and then Hana-chan zapping them into their seats. She would then be wearing an all black dress with a gray smock over it.

"Tohru-kun?" Hana asked, "Why are you laughing?"

"Eh?" she panicked, the whole class was looking at her, but they had glazed looks over their faces, and Tohru could see them imagining the same thing she had been, then they all started giggling. "I'm sorry!"

"It's okay, I just was wondering," she started, "why didn't Kyo-san ask you out before the last two or so weeks of school?"

"I dunno!" she said, "But at least he thought to do so before the prom!"

"Tohru? What are you going to wear?"

"…?"

"You still haven't gone shopping yet?" Hana said surprised.

"Well, not really. I don't have enough money to buy a dress, and just _couldn't _think of asking you or Uo-chan for that kind of money, not even Shigure-san!" she replied smiling.

"Tohru-kun, you need a dress." She said, "Doesn't that Ayame guy run a shop or something?"

"Oh! Ayame-san? I don't know, he might let me buy one for a discount, seeing as how I live with Shigure-san, but I don't even know how much his outfits cost!"

"He should give one to you, as a birthday present." Hanajima told her.

"But Hana-chan, my birthday is in December." Tohru pointed out.

"He doesn't know that."

"Hana!" Tohru exclaimed, "I couldn't do that! Ayame-san is so kind to me! I couldn't bear lying to him!"

"Suit yourself, but if you don't have a dress by Friday, I'm going to go to his shop myself and get you a dress." Hana said.

"Please, Hana-chan, I'll find a way to get a dress…really!" she assured. Hanajima looked doubtful.

"But if you don't, am I allowed to terrorize Ayame?"

"Yes."

"Very well then, till Friday!"

Chapter 4:

"Hello?" Tohru called as she opened the door to Ayame's shop. It was so large, and full of vibrant colors since it was early summer. There were dresses and outfits everywhere, each on a hanger, and each specifically designed for one purpose.

"Is that Tohru-kun I hear?" someone called. Ayame stepped out from one of his many dressing rooms, carrying a rather large and frilly dress.

"Yes, Ayame-san."

"Is my dear little brother hiding outside, or did you come here on your own?" he asked smiling.

"No, it's just me."

"Well, to what do I owe this meeting, Miss Tohru?" he asked walking over and pretending to take off a hat that was on his head.

"Well…you see…I have this dance coming up, and I was wondering if… well…if I could maybe…borrow a dress?" she asked quietly.

"What kind of dance?" he asked pulling up a stool and listening.

"The prom." She said even softer than before.

"The prom? Well, my dear! That changes everything!" he said leaping up and grabbing a tape measure. "I'll design one for you now!"

"Ayame-san? Would it be okay if I looked and see if there's a pre-made one first? I really don't want to bother you with designing an outfit." She commented.

"Of course!" he said, "Let me see if I have any that would look well with your hair and eyes, then we'll worry about sizes later."

"Thank you!" she said bowing. With a swish of hair he was gone, and she could hear him rustling through the racks of outfits.

"So? Who's the lucky guy?" he asked from the far corner of the store.

"Kyo-kun." She answered.

"My, my…I thought I heard you say Kyo-kun." He said returning with three dresses, and then layering them so that they wouldn't get wrinkles.

"I did." She said smiling.

"Well then, this is unexpected!" he commented, "Hmm…I may want to re-think the outfit then."

"Why? What's wrong with these? They're simply gorgeous!" Tohru asked innocently.

"I am picking out things that would appeal to Yuki-kun, not Kyo-kun. I think that I'll try the pinks and purples now." He told her, going to the other side of the store.

"Ayame-san?"

"Yes?"

"I feel like someone's going to get hurt if I go with Kyo-kun…why is that?" she asked. He returned with an assortment of light to dark purples and pinks.

"Didn't Shigure tell you?" he asked, layering them the same way that he had the blues.

"Tell me what? Not another family secret!" she said panicking.

"No," he said sighing, "This isn't part of the zodiac curse because it's not written, but it really should be."

"What should be?"

"You see all the zodiac has someone out there. Someone in the world, waiting for them, whether they accept the curse or not, that's their problem. So, it's obvious that Hatori found his true love, and Akito drove her away, but as for the others…we're not as fortunate as Hatori. Often… we never get to see our true love since Akito keeps us locked away in this estate, which is also why I started this shop! So I might have a chance at meeting my true love." He explained, grinning at his brilliance.

"That still isn't really helping me, I mean… I now know that you all have someone out there, but what about the cat? Does Kyo-kun get a true love too?"

"Oh he does, of course he does! The cat is part of the legend, isn't he?" he replied smiling, "But with the fierce competition between the cat and the rat, they both are bound by one person, and that's also why they fight, because their true love is the same person. Not only do they fight to keep the zodiac in balance, but the fight for the heart of their true love. Even though Yuki's won so many times in the physical battles, but Kyo-kun got to you first, and now that Kyo's found true love…I am sure that he will beat Yuki-kun next time."

"Why?"

"Because, Yuki-kun knows that you're dating the cat, saying that you're on Kyo-kun's side, and he will feel a great loss, because in the end he lost the ultimate battle. He lost the heart of his true love."

"Does that mean that Kyo-kun is in the zodiac now?" she asked excitedly.

Ayame sighed, "If only it were that easy…"

"But Kyo-kun beat Yuki-kun! How is it that he can't be part of the zodiac? That makes no sense Ayame-san!" she protested.

"Tohru-kun… even if Kyo defeats Yuki, I still don't think that Akito will let him into the zodiac." Ayame said, his voice full of sorrow, "Kyo-kun is also like my little brother in some ways. He doesn't think ahead sometimes, just like Yuki-kun. He doesn't see that even if he _does_ beat Yuki-kun in battle… even if he does, the other Sohma family members wouldn't accept him."

"So…even if Kyo-kun becomes part of the zodiac… that's so sad." Tohru said tearing. That wasn't right! Kyo-kun deserved it more than anyone! He had worked so hard at training, and he just _couldn't_ lose! He had to be accepted by Akito, it was his only hope at ever being truly happy. That was what she wanted most of all for him, to be happy, and not feel that he was hopeless, because he wasn't!

"There's nothing you can do in that matter. The other animals will never accept him for who he is because he is possessed by the cat." Ayame explained, "I know that it hurts, but you should know that he may never become one of the zodiac, not if Akito has anything to say about it."

"But Akito shouldn't control you all like this! He…" Tohru started to cry.

"Oh my…!" Ayame commented, "I would comfort you, even wrap my arms around you for some reassurance, but being a zodiac member…I'm sorry Tohru-chan, but there's nothing I can do either." Tohru sobbed uncontrollably.

"It's just th-that… it's n-not fair!" she said after taking a deep breath.

"I know, but that's how Akito wants things, and whatever he says goes." He told her and then gave her a tissue, "Now dry those eyes, because you've got a wonderful dress coming your way!"

Tohru looked up, grateful for the tissue, and smiled. It was a pained, and an almost hollow smile, but a smile all the same. This was another reason that she should break the curse and help all the Sohmas. Her daydream was interrupted by a dress being thrust into her arms and being shoved towards a dressing room.

"If you need any help," he said gently, "I'll be put here."

"Thank you." Tohru replied closing the door and then slipping off her shoes. The fabric of the dress was so soft! It was a medium-dark purple dress; it had light purple ribbons running down the front, making it appear that she was wearing a corset. The top of the dress consisted of two thick straps with light purple lace on the sides, and then the same shade of purple cloth tied into a bow in the back. She slid it on with ease, and when she zipped up the zipper, looked absolutely stunning. As she stepped out of the dressing room, Ayame was waiting patiently outside, sitting in his stool.

"My God!" he exclaimed, "That looks even better on you than in the drawing! Hold on, I want to get a picture of you!"

"No, please Ayame-san." She said, he stopped and smiled, "Thank you."

"It is a shame that I can't show others the outfits that I have designed on a perfect model." He said trying to flatter her.

"Fine…" she sighed, and then laughed.

"I guarantee that after being in front of a camera, you'll feel so much better!"

"Is this pose okay?" she asked standing and smiling.

"It's great!" he said smiling and taking a picture with his camera.

"Tohru-kun!" someone said.

"Honda-san!" someone else called. She turned and saw Yuki and Kyo in the doorway of the store.

"Ah! Yuki-kun! Kyo-kun! What're you doing here?" she said worried.

"Shigure told us that you were down here." Yuki said, trying to not look at the dress she was wearing.

"What're you wearing?" Kyo asked, getting to the point.

"Don't you like it?" Tohru asked spinning for them, "I think it's beautiful!"

"I think that you're nuts for letting him take a picture of you." Yuki commented, glaring at Ayame.

"Please don't blame Ayame-san!" she pleaded, "He's only helping me find a dress for the prom!"

"All the more reason that you shouldn't be _here_." Yuki told her.

"You wound me Yuki-kun!" Ayame said, "I would never use Tohru-chan like that!"

"Yeah you would." Yuki said.

"C'mon, get out of that and we'll take you to a _decent_ store." Kyo commented.

"I can't go anywhere else." Tohru told him, "I don't have enough money…"

"…Oh…" Kyo and Yuki said at the same time.

"Yes! You two should be ashamed of yourselves!" Ayame said agreeing with Tohru and smiling.

"You should shut-up." Yuki snapped, and then he turned to Tohru, "Honda-san, if this was such a problem, why didn't you go to Shigure or me?"

"What about me?" Kyo added, "Couldn't you have come to me?"

"Oh! I simply couldn't have! That would be so much to ask of you!" she said getting flustered.

"No it wouldn't." Kyo told her.

"Besides, Ayame-san has already agreed to lend me a dress."

"He has?" Yuki asked.

"I have?" Ayame asked, pretending to be surprised.

"Yes." Tohru said, "Don't you remember?"

"Heh, heh…" he said smiling.

"Ayame-san!" Tohru said starting to cry again, "You do remember right? I hope you haven't come down with anything!"

"No, no!" he protested as she put her hand on his forehead, "I'm fine, really."

"Did you, or did you not promise Honda-san a dress?" Yuki asked darkly. Ayame smiled, caught in his own web of lies.

"Tohru-kun," Ayame said, "since that dress looks so beautiful on you…would you like to keep it?"

"Really? I could?" she exclaimed.

"Yeah." He said sighing, "It's yours."

"Oh thank you!" she said hugging him. He turned into his snake form and laughed.

Akito looked out of the window and saw Tohru walking back with a fairly large bag. Kyo and Yuki weren't far behind, but that was to be expected. They went by, smiling and acting merrily. It was time that cat got a dose of reality, or at least, a dose of punishment.

"I want a meeting with the cat tonight." He said darkly, "And I want him to be alone."

Chapter 5:

"Hello?" Tohru asked, answering the phone.

"Is Kyo-kun there?" a voice asked, it sounded like Akito's.

"Oh, he just went out for an evening run actually. Who is this?" Tohru asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Just tell him I called, because you know exactly who this is." He said, "And also, tell him to come to the main house at quarter to eleven."

"Yes, I will." She said, waiting for him to hang up, it might insult him if she did first.

"Well? Aren't you going to hang-up you stupid girl?" he asked with a mocking tone in his voice.

"Oh…! Yes! Goodbye!" she said quickly, and then hung the phone up. She let out a sigh of relief as she sat down with some herbal tea. Her heart was pounding, she'd just started going out with Kyo-kun, and Akito-san wanted to talk to him. There was always something wrong when Akito-san wanted to talk to Kyo. What would happen? Would he be okay? Should she tell him that Akito called? Her heart was beating faster as a sense of disaster hit her.

"Honda-san… are you alright?" Yuki asked sitting down next to her.

"Eh?" she asked panicking, "I'm fine! But I really should be cleaning the bathrooms!"

"No, relax." He told her, "You need to take a break once in a while." Yuki smiled at her, and she sheepishly smiled back.

"Yuki-kun?" Tohru asked, "What's with everyone lately?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, there was panic in his voice.

"They're all treating me …different." She finally said.

"Well, may be we're just starting to realize your worth around here." He edged closer and looked into her eyes, "I know I am." Tohru blushed, and was very glad that the phone rang and Yuki answered.

"It's for you." He said handing her the phone.

"Hello?" she answered, no one ever called for her!

"Is this Tohru Honda?" a muffled voice asked.

"Yes."

"This is the Prince Yuki Fan Club." Someone said, "And we just wanted you to know that if anything happens, we'll call."

"Huh?"

"You're so-o-o-o-o slow Honda-san." They said, "Look, if the Prince does anything, or is close to doing anything, we'll call. So don't get too comfortable!"

"Thank you!" she exclaimed hanging up. Tohru turned to look out the window, and saw a nearby bush shaking; with binoculars sticking out of the front. She smiled; this was quite funny. The whole Prince Yuki club behind that bush?

"Who was it Honda-san?"

"Oh, no one." She lied, "Just Hana-chan checking up on me."

"Uh-huh." He said skeptically, sliding closer.

"Um, Yuki-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I have some room?" she asked. He immediately jumped back to where he'd started, just a cushion down.

"Sorry," he said, "I guess you were speaking so softly that I had to move closer to hear…"

"Yuki-kun? Are you okay? You seem a bit…nervous about something? Is everything going well with the Student Council?" she asked worried. Yuki laughed, it was just like her to worry about someone other than herself.

"I'm fine." He said, fidgeting in his seat, "Really!"

"Are you sure?" she asked, sitting next to him and feeling his forehead, like she had Ayame's earlier. The phone rang.

"Hello?" Tohru answered.

"Watch it, sister!" a voice said, then they hung-up. It was unfathomable! They were stalking him, all the way to his house!

"Who was that?"

"Just some prank callers." She replied. Tohru picked up her cup of tea and sipped it gingerly.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yup!" she said. She put her empty cup on the table, but it toppled over and rolled onto the floor. "Oh no!"

Tohru chased after it, tripping over the table and falling. Yuki went to help her, but fell on top of her. He was inches away from her face, and she could feel her heart race.

"What's this?" Shigure said walking in.

"Nothing happened!" Yuki said, immediately jumping to his feet and giving her a hand so that she could get up off the floor.

"Yeah!" she said, blushing profoundly.

"Uh-huh…" he said, and then broke down laughing. "Jeez Yuki, you could've at least put up, a 'DO NOT DISTURB' sign!"

"You're the only one here who's disturbed." He commented. Kyo walked in and froze. The table had been moved, pillows were on the floor, the couch had changed position, and Tohru's hair wasn't how it looked before he'd left.

"What the-?" he exclaimed. The phone was ringing to the point of near insanity, and all Tohru could do was look around panicked.

"Ah! Young love, I'll just leave now." Shigure said, and with that and a murmur of something about high school girls, he left.

"What'd he do to you?" Kyo asked concerned.

"Nothing! I tripped, and when he, um, tried to help me, he kind of…fell on top of me…" she told him sheepishly, "But nothing happened! At that point, Shigure walked in."

"And I'm supposed to believe that?" he asked raising his eyebrows.

"Yes." They both said. Yuki looked very distraught, and Tohru was just plain out of it tonight.

"Uh-huh… I'm not buying it." He said crossing his arms. Momiji walked in, and gaped at Tohru and Yuki.

"Yuki-kun! Taking advantage of poor Tohru-chan like that!" he exclaimed, "What did you do to her?"

"NOTHING! I DID NOTHING!" he shouted at the cowering boy. "WHY DOES EVERYONE ASSUME THAT I _DID_ SOMETHING?"

"Because you need help." Kyo said.

"You stay out of this!" Yuki said, "You weren't here when it happened!"

"Well neither was Momiji." He pointed out. Kyo had new confidence, something Tohru had never seen before; Kyo was taunting him with a smile on his face.

"Um Kyo-kun?" she asked, shattering the electric force building between them, they both turned to look at her, rather annoyed, "Akito-san called and he said that you had to go see him at 10:45."

"Great." He said, "Lemme go shower. I can't be all sweaty to _his_ house."

"Make sure you clean behind the ears!" Momiji sung.

"Thanks, mom." He said coldly, and then walked into the bathroom. Kyo closed the door and then locked it. What could Akito want with him now? He slipped off his sweaty shirt and the turned on the showerhead. He looked at the washcloths, perfectly lined up, and ready for use. He found the one with his name on it, and smiled. Tohru had done her best to embroider each one with a name so that they couldn't fight over whose washcloth was whose. Tohru had sat for two days stitching them, but never once complained. That was just another thing they'd done to her, making her life more stressful seemed to be their strong suit.

The water reached its peak, and he stepped in, wondering why he was still staying here. Tohru could come with him to the mountains. They could build a little cottage and live there forever… now he was letting her get to him. Cottage? Mountains? _Forever_? No, he couldn't do that. What if her heart started to act up again?

"Kyo?" Momiji asked, knocking on the door. He shut the water off and wrapped a towel around himself, then stuck his head out the door.

"Kinda' busy here." He said dryly.

"I know, but I just wanna know… are you and Tohru going out?" he asked awkwardly.

"It would seem so, since I did kiss her." He replied.

"Kiss who?" Yuki asked, coming from his room.

"Tohru-chan." He replied. Yuki looked at him, and smiled.

"You're too late, I already did that, Kyo." He said smirking.

"Oh? On the lips?" he asked smugly, Yuki gave him an evil glare, "We're going to the prom together, hope that's not a problem?"

"Nope. Not a problem at all. I'm going with someone else." He said, and then walked away.

Kyo slammed the door in Momji's face, and then returned to his shower; almost making the water become hotter he was so mad. How could it not get Yuki's attention that he was going out with her? It wasn't fair! The whole zodiac wasn't fair! It was the rat's fault he was always getting the blame, in fact, it was the rat's fault that he had fallen in love with her. Kyo had just wanted her, somewhat, because Yuki did, and that made him sick. '_Am I just dating her to get on Yuki's nerves? What do I really care about her?'_

"Kyo-kun?" Tohru called through the door, "I'll just put your clean clothes into your room. Okay with you?"

"Yeah…sure." He called back. Did this house live to interrupt his shower?

Tohru carried his pants and shirt up to his room. She opened his door and then gingerly hung them on hangers, and then put his pants in the closet. Tohru wondered if he wanted to have his shirt hung up, or just in the drawers? While thinking about this problem, someone walked in.

"Hey." Kyo said moodily.

"Oh! I don't know where you want me to put your shirt." She told him smiling.

"Here," he said, he was in his boxers, no shame! Kyo slid it on over his head and looked at her, then smiled, "Problem solved." Tohru laughed, and saw the pain in his eyes.

"Kyo-kun?" she asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" He snapped, he grabbed a pair of worn jeans and slid them on. Tohru was worried.

"Have I done something?" she asked precautiosly.

"No, it's just that… I don't know if I'm dating you for the right reasons." He said sighing. He seemed to be a lot more relieved after saying that. He pulled her into his arms and held her hands.

"Why?" she asked looking up at him.

"It's just that, am I dating you because Yuki liked you, or because I love you? I didn't want to worry you, but here I go again. God, I suck!" he said.

"No you don't." she told him smiling, "Even if you are dating me because Yuki might have liked me, I still think that you're great Kyo-kun. No matter what." He looked at her, drew her close, and kissed her with all the passion he felt welling up in him.

Chapter 6:

Kyo walked out the door after kissing Tohru goodbye. There was a certain spring in his step. He felt like he could fly, or at least face Akito with his head held high. What did he want with him now? He hadn't done anything…had he? May be he'd found out about Tohru?

The main house came into view, and he prayed that Tohru would be all right while he was out. He could see Akito's room, and the faint glow of candles. The doors were in view now, and Kyo bravely walked through.

"Hello." Kyo said walking into the room, Akito was turned to face the window. He looked over his shoulder.

"Oh," he said darkly, "It's _you_."

"Yeah, you called for me, at least that's what Tohru-chan told me." He replied. Kyo sat down when he was gestured.

"At least that girl's good for something," he commented, "So? How long did you think that you could keep a secret from me?" Akito asked, sipping his soup.

"Keep what from you?"

"That you're dating Tohru." He said.

"Eh? I would've told you, if you'd given me the chance." He muttered.

"You have to speak up, remember, I don't have those horrendous ears that pick up all those sounds, Kyo-kun, like you do." Akito said smiling quietly.

"I would've told you." He said loud enough for him.

"Honestly," Akito said, "I don't know why you're doing this. I mean c'mon, she's going to die soon Kyo, and that's all there is to it."

Kyo sat quietly; Akito couldn't do anything to her. He would have to kill Kyo first, and then he'd have to face every other member of the zodiac before he'd lay a finger on her! This brought a small smile to his face; she had all the hopes and prayers of everyone that she'd ever met.

"She isn't going to die." He said firmly.

"What was that?" he asked darkly.

"I said that she isn't going to die." He repeated.

"Well that's impossible, my dear little monster, for everyone dies!" Akito pointed out.

"I know that, but Tohru-kun isn't going to die anytime soon." He said, angering Akito so much that he stood up.

"Do you think that _true love_ really will help her?" he demanded, "Tohru is going to die, and I don't know why you care so much, the cat is always at a loss to the rat! No one will ever love you! Not even your precious Tohru!"

"That's not true." He protested, "I love Tohru! And I know that she loves me too!"

"Oh really? You've been dating for what… two days? This isn't a lot of time for someone to know that they've found love." Akito said, "You filthy cat!"

"What? Are you jealous?" he asked standing up too, "Are you jealous that no one loves you?" Kyo had hit a chord, Akito faltered. That was it! Kyo continued, "If you'd stop having control issues, and got to know her, she'd probably love you too!"

"I don't have control issues!" he said, throwing his soup bowl at Kyo's head, missing by inches.

"Then what was that?" he asked smirking.

"You filthy, disease infested _cat_!" he shouted.

"You're just jealous that I have someone who loves me! And that I love them in return! You just want to ruin our lives because no one loved you as a child!" he said, something he'd said was getting to Akito! "What happened as a kid that made you this way?"

"How _dare _you give me an order!" Akito shouted.

"Tsk, tsk. You'll never earn someone's love that way." He said making Akito tremble with anger.

"GET OUT!" he screamed, "IF I EVER FIND OUT WHERE TOHRU IS, I _WILL_ KILL HER! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

"Yup!" he said smiling, he got up and left, smiling broadly, he would never be called to see him for a good three months. He had found his one weakness, and Kyo had exploited it like a man in his position would have, like Shishou would've.

"I'm home!" he said walking into the kitchen. Tohru was asleep on the counter, doing her homework. Kyo smiled at her and carried her to her room. She was just as light as the day he'd brought her to Hatori's, that day was a true nightmare. Kyo opened her door and placed her on he bed that was in the far corner of the room. He smiled, kissed her forehead, and gently closed the door.

Stepping out, he found himself face to face with Shigure. No good could come of this conversation; he knew it.

"So! Kyo-kun," Shigure said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and guiding him towards his office, "I hear that you have won our dear Tohru's heart?"

"If you want to call it that, yeah." He said, "Why?"

"Well, I thought that I'd just give you some advice!" Shigure said smiling.

"Whatever advice I obtain from you, is better off in one of your novels or in the garbage." He commented.

"You're quite snippy to be coming back from Akito's." Shigure observed, "What happened that's put you in such a fine mood?"

"Let's just say, I found some _leverage_." Kyo said smiling.

"Leverage, eh?" Shigure asked, stroking his chin, "And what might this be?"

"Like I would tell you!" Kyo said to him.

"Does it involve Tohru-kun?" he asked.

"Sure, why not?" Kyo replied.

"Kyon-Kyon, I must admit, you have a great mind like mine stumped." Shigure said, "So please tell me…what happened?"

"Nope." He said going into his room and locking the door behind him. As he turned to climb into bed, he saw that Kagura was sitting there.

"Kyo, darling!" she exclaimed, running up and trying to kiss him.

"Get offa' me!" he said trying to scrape her off of his body.

"Kyo-kun! I've missed you so!" she said happily, squeezing him even tighter.

"What're you doing here, Kagura?" he asked, finally getting her to release him from her snake-like grip.

"I heard about Tohru-kun." She replied, "HOW DARE YOU KISS HER!" Kagura punched Kyo in the stomach. "I THOUGHT THAT YOU LOVED ME!" She sent another punch to his gut.

"Jeez woman!" he said, scurrying onto his balcony, "Yeah, I'm going out with her. Is it really all that bad?"

"SHUT UP! I LOVED YOU SO MUCH! AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?" she said following him. Usually she would've knocked him out by now, but something made him sense that she had come here for a different reason.

"Kagura…you don't want her to die either, do you?" Kyo asked. Just before she was about to hit his face, she stopped. Her fist fell to her side, and she hunched over, and then collapsed onto the floor crying.

"N-no! I don't w-want Tohru to d-die!" she cried out. Kyo knelt by her side and wrapped his arms around her shaking shoulders, "I d-don't mind th-that she's going out with y-you. I just don't w-want her to die!"

Kagura sat in a sobbing heap on the floor for a good fifteen minutes, cursing and crying. Her body was trembling when she tried to get back onto her feet, and Kyo helped steady her.

"Me too." He said, "I don't want her to die either."

"I'm sorry Kyo-kun." She finally said, "I'm sorry that I hit you and beat you, then cried all over your shirt… I'm going to miss Tohru."

"It's not over yet!" he said smiling, "If she can go through next week without having to visit Hatori, she might have a good chance at beating this thing."

"Really?"

"Yep." He said, then he ushered her out of the house, and when she'd left, he fell asleep on the couch.

Chapter 7:

"Kyo-kun?" someone was calling. He was being shaken awake, and he was not happy about that.

"What?" he groaned, "What do you want?"

"Hanajima's coming over with Uo-chan today, so I just wanted you to know." A voice told him, and then they giggled, "Sorry to interrupt your _cat_ nap!"

Kyo opened his eyes and saw Tohru with an apron on, holding up a plate of freshly cooked fish.

"Fish for breakfast?" he asked, blearily.

"No silly, you slept through breakfast. It's lunchtime Kyo-kun!" she replied smiling brightly.

"Eh…" he shrugged, taking the plate and devouring the fish whole, and spitting the bones out.  
"I guess you liked it, huh?" she asked sitting down next to him. He was still in the clothes that he'd worn yesterday.

"Mm-hm!" he said, "That was very good Tohru."

"Thank you!" she exclaimed, "Do you want some more? Because I can easily make more, the frying pan is still hot, and Hatori came this morning with a whole bucket full of fish!"

"Hatori?" he said jumping, "What did he want?"

"Nothing! He just wanted to ask me how I was doing, if everything was okay. Why?" she told him.

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Nothing, just after that whole fainting thing, I'm worried about you, and Hatori-san is the last thing I need." He replied smiling. Kyo should've told known that Hatori was going to come check-up on her, knowing that she wouldn't want to take up any of his time with how she was feeling.

The doorbell rang and Tohru jumped up and got it. Uo and Hanajima were on the porch waiting patiently. She greeted them openly and brought them inside.

"Yo' Orangey!" Uo said, "Let's have a word in private." Uo pulled Kyo into another room and sat him down.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Look, I don't approve that Tohru is dating you because it's you, and I don't trust you, but she does. So…it you do anything to her, touch her, hit her, dump her, I'll be on you faster than flies on dead meat, understand? You hurt Tohru, I hurt you." She told him.

"Sure," he said, "I'm sure that she's busy worrying right now about what you're telling me."

"Just so we're clear." She told him, and then returned to Tohru. Kyo shook his head, what had just happened?

"Uo-chan!" Tohru exclaimed, "What happened?"

"I just had a little talk with Kyo-kun, that's all." She replied shrugging.

"You said that you had a dress to show us, Tohru-chan?" Hanajima asked, taking off her cape. The air was getting slowly warmer outside, and the trees were starting to branch out with their leaves.

"Hana-chan, are you sure that you want to wear that thing? It's going to be quite hot today." Tohru said indicating the sweater Hana was wearing under her cape.

"The waves form this place give me the shivers." She replied, "Yes, such strange waves…"

"Eh!" Tohru said panicking, "How's about we go up to my room and figure out what we're going to wear?"

"Okay." Uo said. They went up the stairs rather noisily. As they were passing Shigure's office, Rin stepped out. She stopped and looked at Tohru.

"Rin?" Uo asked.

"Uo?" she asked, focusing on her. Rin's eyes widened, "Uo!"

"Oh my God! Rin, what're you doing here?" she asked, they hugged each other and laughed.

"Umm…" Tohru had no clue as to what was going on.

"I was just visiting Shigure!" she said laughing.

"Rin, how are you?" Hanjima asked, like she had known her for a while.

"Hana?" she asked, "Oh my- HANA!"

"Yeah, it's her." Uo said smiling, Rin hugged Hana too, and then looked at Tohru, and did something she had never done before, smiled at her.

"Umm…Rin?" Tohru asked uncertainly, "Are you feeling well?"

"Better now than ever!" she said, "Oh! You must not have known, I used to go to Hanajima's school and I was in the gang that Uo-chan here left."

"Wow…"

"You never told me that you were friends with these guys!" she said.

"I never knew that you knew them.'' she commented shyly. Rin knew _both_ Hana and Uo? This was some day! First Hatori showed up, and then Rin knew her two best friends. While Rin, Uo, and Hanajima were in a deep conversation, Tohru waited patiently. People catching up with each other usually took forever, but c'mon, it wasn't like she was going to die anytime soon, right? After a good hour or so, they finally wished each other a safe return home, and Rin left.

"I didn't know that you knew Rin." Uo commented as they entered Tohru's room. The bed was made, and the floor had nothing on it. Everything was in its own place, and Tohru took a pride in the clean state of her room since she had just spent the whole morning between making breakfast and cleaning it.

"Yes, she's a Sohma." Tohru told them, "Usually she just ignores me."

"Oh, that's horrible." Hana said concerned, "Rin-chan was never one for making friends in elementary school. I was one of the few that she did like."

"Really?" Tohru asked; Hanajima almost never talked about life as a child because of her power.

"Yes, I got the same waves from her as the other Sohma members. I never thought to ask at that age…but I sometimes wish that I had." She replied.

"Back to business!" Uo said, "Show us this dress, please!"

"Oh! Right!" Tohru went into her closet and pulled out the stunning purple gown, the turned and slipped it over her clothes. Uo and Hana gasped as they saw it on her.

"It's so pretty!" Uo said.

"Indeed, a pretty dress is very suitable for you Tohru-kun!" Hanajima agreed, and she awed at the dress as Tohru spun around in it.

"Tohru!" someone called through the door. She walked over and opened it to see Yuki in the doorway.

"Yuki-kun!" she exclaimed, "What's wrong?"

"No, I thought that…never mind." He said turning away.

"Wait Yuki-kun!" she called after him, "What's wrong?"

"Rin knows Uo and Hanajima. That's what's wrong." He said.

"Why is that a problem?"

"Rin isn't the best person to be hanging around with." He said, "Not since it's the year of the horse."

"Oh…I'll be careful." She said.

"Umm…Tohru?" he asked nervously.

"Yes?"

"Are you really…are you _really_ going out with Kyo?" he asked.

"Yeah…I'm going out with Kyo." She said, "Why?"

"Oh…nothing… just wanted to know, that's all." He said with a defeated tone in his voice. He walked away with his shoulders drooping and a kind of shuffle.

"What'd he want?" Uo asked as she returned.

"He wanted to know if I was dating Kyo-kun." She replied taking off the dress.

"Well that's a stupid thing to want to know." Uo commented, "I swear, for a prince, he sure is dumb."

"Yuki-kun isn't dumb!" Tohru said to her as she hung the dress on the hanger.

"Well, then he's really close to it." She muttered.

"Yuki-kun _is_ kind of cute." Hanjima commented. Uo and Tohru both stared at her and then Uo burst out laughing.

"Ha! That's a good one Hana!" she exclaimed.

"I'm serious." She said, "Yuki is cute."

"In what way?" Tohru asked, worried that if Hana went to the dance with him, she might find out about the whole rat thing.

"He's kind, caring, somewhat smart, on student council…and cute." She said, "Why? Does it bother you that I like him Tohru-kun?"

"Oh! No, not at all!" Tohru exclaimed.

"Well, you've got your heart set on him, I say that we help Hana-chan get the boy of her dreams." Uo suggested.

"Yes!" Tohru agreed eagerly, dreading the outcome.

"Thank you." She said smiling.

"I have a great idea!" Tohru said, "How's about you sleep over Hana chan? You too Uo! Wouldn't that be fun?"

"Indeed, it is a good idea." She commented, "I must let my brother know that I'm staying though, otherwise he'll worry."

"Why? What about your parents?" Uo asked.

"They're in France right now. Spur of the moment trip, they said that if I wanted, Megumi and I could come with them, but I chose to stay." Hana replied, "Megumi chose to stay with me."

"What a thoughtful thing to do!" Tohru commented, "Uo, can you stay?"

"Sure!" she said, "My dad doesn't care how late I stay out, so long as I come back the next day or give him a phone call."

"YAY! It's a sleepover!" Tohru shouted happily.

Chapter 8:

Hanajima woke up with a need for something to drink. She was wearing a camisole top with her black pajama pants on rolled down to her hips. It was comfortable, and that was all that mattered. She walked down the hall, past the staircase, and into the kitchen. Blearily she looked for a glass in the cabinets, and when she finally found the cabinet, she as wide-awake.

As she was filling her glass with water, she detected someone's waves. These were definitely Sohma waves… they were different. The waves she had brought along a sound, and it was a mouse, or a rat, squeaking. She turned and saw Yuki in the doorway.

He was rubbing his eyes, and his hair was slightly messed up. He looked at her with eyes of confusion. He had on a t-shirt with boxers, and Hanajima blushed furiously.

"What are you doing here?" he asked rubbing his eyes.

"I'm sleeping over with Tohru-chan." She said quietly, "I was thirsty, so I came out for a drink. I hope I didn't wake you?"

"No," he said smiling, at least it looked like a smile, since it was three in the morning, "Not at all, in fact, I was thirsty my self."

"Cool, do you want me to get you a glass?" she asked turning redder.

"No, I got it." He said, then opened the cabinet and poured himself a glass of water. He turned and knocked into the fridge door, bumping into Hanajima. She started to fall, so he went to help her, but he lost his balance like he had with Tohru, and this time landed in a position so that they were kissing.

Immediately he broke away, and helped her up, both of them were quite red. Hana looked at him and smiled.

"You're not all that bad of a kisser," she commented shyly. This was a side that he'd never seen of her. It was a normal side, and he liked it.

"You too." He replied blushing, thanking God that it was night. He stepped towards her and looked into her eyes, and felt her trembling. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know." She replied, avoiding his gaze.

"Hana…" he said, and he leaned in and he kissed her again. It was filled with passion and she kissed back, in her head doing back flips. This was her first kiss. When they pulled away from each other he looked at her.

"Now I must tell you," he commented, "For your own safety, you can't hug me."

"Why?" she asked.

"I'll need to ask Akito if I can tell you… it's a very long story." He said hating himself that she might have to get her memories suppressed.

"Does it have anything to do with the waves that I sense from your family?" she asked.

"Hana, I can't go into details, but yes, it does." He told her.

"Yuki?" she asked as they looked out at the rising sun.

"Hm?"

"That was my very first kiss." She said looking out into the lightening sky.

"Well then," he said turning her to face him, "This will be your second." He pulled her close, but not too close, and kissed her again.

Chapter 9:

"You're what?" Uo asked in the morning, clearly surprised.

"Yes," Hanajima said, "I'm dating Yuki."

"No way!" Tohru exclaimed. They gathered around her and listened to the entire story and sighed when she came to the ending.

"That was so sweet!" Uo said dreamily, "Who knew that the Prince could be so romantic?"

"I know!" Tohru agreed, "I didn't even know that Yuki was like that!"

"He's so…nice." Hana said, thinking back to the kiss. It still sent shivers up her spine. Her stomach felt as if there was a thousand butterflies flitting around, giving her the sensation that she was going to puke. Overall, it was a great feeling!

"You know what this means right?" Uo asked smiling.

"What?"

"You've got a date to the prom!" she sang. The sound traveled out into the far reaches of the estate, and into the ears of a man named Kureno. He sat up and listened, aroused from his sleep and marveled at the sound that had come flying into his room. It was prettier than a songbird's, and he knew what birds sounded like. He rushed out of bed, combed his hair and thought that the only voice that sound could've come from was his dear Uo.

Back in Tohru's room, they all gathered around a magazine, filled with articles on dresses and advice on guys, it was the PERFECT thing for Hanjima.

"Look Hana," Uo said, laying out the law, "the same rules apply to you as they did to Tohru, if he breaks your heart, I break his neck."

"Oh…is that what you told him yesterday?" Tohru asked, remembering the side conversation Uo had had with Kyo.

"Yup!" she replied smiling, "Now, secondly, we need to get you out of this black clothing business for one night."

"The prom?" Tohru asked.

"You guessed right!" she laughed, "But seriously Hana, if this relationship doesn't work… you have to be able to make the other guys want you."

"Uo! I have no need to make other men want me!" Hanajima exclaimed, giving her friend a look that was of pure confusion.

"Well, just in case." Uo told her, "Just don't wear black."

"Can I wear brown?" she asked.

"No dark colors."

"Fine, _light_ brown." She repeated.

"Hana-chan," Tohru interrupted, "How's about we go look for your dress at Ayame's shop? He'd be glad for the business, and you both saw the dress he gave me, and I'm sure that he'd give you a discount."

"Well…" Hana said, "Okay."

They changed clothes and left the Sohma estate, grabbing breakfast at a sidewalk café. They all exchanged glances as they reached the steps to Ayame's shop. The sign read "OPEN" but neither of the girls budged.

"I'll go first," Tohru said finally, and then she opened the door and stepped into the small greeting area.

"Are you sure that he just forgot to flip the sign over?" Uo asked following her inside.

"Ayame-san?" she called. There was a shuffling in the back of the racks, and a head poked out.

"Tohru?" he asked.

"Yes," she told him, "I brought my friends here so that they could find a dress."

"Oh! Well come right in! Why didn't you say so in the first place?" he asked, bustling forward, and trying to hide the pain in his eyes. Just that morning Hatori had called and told him Tohru's diagnosis. It had made him want to cry, and he had been on the verge of doing just that when she and her friends had walked in.

"Ayame?" she asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Hm? Oh, yes! Everything's peachy keene!" he said smiling and telling himself to just get over it. Akito would've done it sooner, so it all worked out for the better.

"Hi." A raven-haired girl said, she looked rather gothic, and this was exactly the kind of customer he liked.

"Might I ask who your prom date is, my dear?"


	2. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

"You're what?" Uo asked in the morning, clearly surprised.

"Yes," Hanajima said, "I'm dating Yuki."

"No way!" Tohru exclaimed. They gathered around her and listened to the entire story and sighed when she came to the ending.

"That was so sweet!" Uo said dreamily, "Who knew that the Prince could be so romantic?"

"I know!" Tohru agreed, "I didn't even know that Yuki was like that!"

"He's so…nice." Hana said, thinking back to the kiss. It still sent shivers up her spine. Her stomach felt as if there was a thousand butterflies flitting around, giving her the sensation that she was going to puke. Overall, it was a great feeling!

"You know what this means right?" Uo asked smiling.

"What?"

"You've got a date to the prom!" she sang. The sound traveled out into the far reaches of the estate, and into the ears of a man named Kureno. He sat up and listened, aroused from his sleep and marveled at the sound that had come flying into his room. It was prettier than a songbird's, and he knew what birds sounded like. He rushed out of bed, combed his hair and thought that the only voice that sound could've come from was his dear Uo.

Back in Tohru's room, they all gathered around a magazine, filled with articles on dresses and advice on guys, it was the PERFECT thing for Hanjima.

"Look Hana," Uo said, laying out the law, "the same rules apply to you as they did to Tohru, if he breaks your heart, I break his neck."

"Oh…is that what you told him yesterday?" Tohru asked, remembering the side conversation Uo had had with Kyo.

"Yup!" she replied smiling, "Now, secondly, we need to get you out of this black clothing business for one night."

"The prom?" Tohru asked.

"You guessed right!" she laughed, "But seriously Hana, if this relationship doesn't work… you have to be able to make the other guys want you."

"Uo! I have no need to make other men want me!" Hanajima exclaimed, giving her friend a look that was of pure confusion.

"Well, just in case." Uo told her, "Just don't wear black."

"Can I wear brown?" she asked.

"No dark colors."

"Fine, _light_ brown." She repeated.

"Hana-chan," Tohru interrupted, "How's about we go look for your dress at Ayame's shop? He'd be glad for the business, and you both saw the dress he gave me, and I'm sure that he'd give you a discount."

"Well…" Hana said, "Okay."

They changed clothes and left the Sohma estate, grabbing breakfast at a sidewalk café. They all exchanged glances as they reached the steps to Ayame's shop. The sign read "OPEN" but neither of the girls budged.

"I'll go first," Tohru said finally, and then she opened the door and stepped into the small greeting area.

"Are you sure that he just forgot to flip the sign over?" Uo asked following her inside.

"Ayame-san?" she called. There was a shuffling in the back of the racks, and a head poked out.

"Tohru?" he asked.

"Yes," she told him, "I brought my friends here so that they could find a dress."

"Oh! Well come right in! Why didn't you say so in the first place?" he asked, bustling forward, and trying to hide the pain in his eyes. Just that morning Hatori had called and told him Tohru's diagnosis. It had made him want to cry, and he had been on the verge of doing just that when she and her friends had walked in.

"Ayame?" she asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Hm? Oh, yes! Everything's peachy keen!" he said smiling and telling himself to just get over it. Akito would've done it sooner, so it all worked out for the better.

"Hi." A raven-haired girl said, she looked rather gothic, and this was exactly the kind of customer he liked.

"Might I ask who your prom date is, my dear?" he asked.

"Umm…" she was speechless.

"It's okay Hana," Tohru told her smiling, "Ayame-san won't care."

"Okay…I'm going with Yuki Sohma." She said finally.

Ayame looked quizzically at her and then said, "My darling, I have the perfect dress for you!"

He smiled and with a flourish, went into the back of the store. He went directly to the rack where he pulled aside all the dark colored dresses and emerged with a dress made for the gothic girl. Ayame walked back to the girl and presented it to her and brought her to the dressing room.

"Wow…" the girl breathed, Hana had never seen anything like it. It was a light peach color with a hint of gold. The neckline went down a little lower then what she'd enjoy, but she could live with it. There were yellow-gold sequins outlining the top, and the skirt went down to her knees. It was a little poofy, and the bottom had lace that matched the top, Hanajima fell in love with it.

"Is everything okay Hana-chan?" Tohru called through the door.

"Yeah," she replied, remembering that this was the same man that she'd sworn to torture if he didn't give Tohru a dress. What a small world it was turning out to be. Hana slipped out of her clothes and into the dress. She radiated beauty and smiled at her reflection. This was one of the few times that she thought a bright color looked good on her.

"I'm coming out," she told them, "Get ready!"

Hana stepped out and heard the gasps from everyone. She looked at her own reflection and gave a small gasp too. She looked great!

"Hana-chan!" Tohru said, "That looks gorgeous on you!"

"Whoa." Uo mustered.

"My dear, this dress is simply _meant_ for you," Ayame said, "I couldn't stand making you pay full price!"

"Thank you." Hana said meekly.

"Now," he said turning to Uo, "What about you?"

"Eh?" she replied panicked.

"I think that purple will do nicely!" he said, rushing into the back of the store again and pulling out a dress.

"Uo-chan, this is great! We'll all be wearing Ayame-san's dresses to the prom!" Tohru commented.

"Ain't any force on heaven or on earth that'll make me wear a dress." Uo stated firmly.

"Come now Uo," Hana said coming from the dressing room with her old clothes back on, "A dress would look good on you!"

"Look, I only wear a skirt because that's protocol for my job! If I all of a sudden start wearing dresses I might get used to the whole, 'being-a-woman' thing." Uo told her.

"But you are a woman," Tohru said, "And besides, how else are you going to become a model if you don't wear dresses?"

"I'll model… tools!" she said after pausing for a moment.

"Tools? I didn't know that you could wear a hammer." Tohru said absently.

"No Tohru-kun, what she means is that she'll model _the_ tool." Hanajima explained patiently.

"Oh!" Tohru said understanding. Ayame walked back with a rather simple dress, and he handed it to Uo.

"I'm supposed to try this on?" she asked looking at it.

"Would you rather go naked?" he replied bluntly. Uo paled, took the dress, and went into the dressing room.

As she was in there she heard the shop door open and the chimes go off in the front. She ignored them and glared at the dress, wishing it would burn to ashes.

"Stupid dress." She muttered after slipping out of her old clothes and putting on the new dress. It was a purple silk, and it glided over her body, giving her a shiver up her spine. It had an Oriental pattern on it, and a high neckline with a teardrop down to her collarbone. The skirt was a little short, just a few inches above the knee, good thing she'd shaved that morning she thought. She imagined herself walking out and having the same responses that Hana did. She undid the latch and stepped out to see the Tohru, Hana, Ayame, and one more person.


	3. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

Kureno walked swiftly towards Shigure's house and in past a sleepy Kyo, then into Shigure's office. He was sitting there, staring at his computer screen when Kureno had walked in.

"Can I help you?" Shigure asked, surprised at his sudden appearance.

"Was there a girl here? Dirty blonde? Rather tall?" he demanded.

"Calm down my friend," he said, "Have a seat, relax. Do you want a cup of tea? I think that Kyo is okay with making it for this morning."

"Shigure, I don't have time for this!" he said.

"Well why is she so important?" Shigure asked suggestively.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Shigure." Kureno told him flatly, "If you must know, I've had it up to here with Akito and his rules about dating outside of the family! It's not fair!"

"Ah…so you're in love with this girl?" he asked, "How important is it to you that you know?"

"I can tell by that smug look on your face that she was here," Kureno told him, "All I want to know is where is she now?"

"I believe that they went to Ayame's shop." Shigure told him, and then turned back to his computer.

"Thanks." He said, and then walked to Ayame's shop.

It had taken him twenty minutes, but he made it to Ayame's shop and saw Tohru standing outside of a stall with a dark haired girl clutching a peach colored dress. He strode in and tapped Ayame on the shoulder, receiving a glance and then a nod. Kureno waited for a minute or so, someone was getting dressed in the stall. He sat on a chair, staring at the floor. He heard the door open, and as he glanced at the person coming out, he realized something. Those legs, those hips, those shoulders, he knew that whole body standing there in front on him. He was positive that he knew that picturesque body, and then he saw the face.

Standing with the morning sun behind her head, it gave her the appearance of a halo, was Uotani. He looked at her and tears filled his eyes as she stared at him with a look of confusion. She stood with her hands on her hips and then she recognized the face that was tearing at her sight.

"Kureno?" she whispered.

"Yeah…it's me." He said, "I just wanted to tell you something."

"What's that?" she asked.

"I love you." He said, and he walked over and kissed her.

Uo stepped out of the stall and saw a man, his head in his hands sitting across from her. She looked at him, but the light kept her from seeing his face. His body went rigid when he saw her. He was studying her now, looking her over, then a cloud blocked the sun and she saw his face. It was Kureno! Everything she said from that point on was either stupid, or if it was intelligent, she'd forgotten it, because he had just said that he loved her!

"I love you too." She whispered into his ear after they stopped kissing.

He looked into her eyes, "So long as I live, I will never leave you again."

"Kureno…" she said softly. They kissed again, but this time she felt every emotion in her pour out of her into this one single kiss that lasted a wonderful forever.

"I missed you." She said when they finished.

"As did I." He told her.

"Ahem!" a voice from behind them said. They both turned and saw Ayame there, standing rather awkwardly with two gaping girls on either side.

"Sorry." they both said at the same time, blushing a little.

"All's well." He said, "But I don't think that Tohru and her friend here are used to seeing their friend and such behavior."

"Yes. What he said," Hana said.

"Uh-huh." Tohru said.

"So long as you're a good girl," Ayame said to Uo, "and you're a gentleman, you may continue doing this in my shop, but should anyone come walking in, I expect you to stop."

"Sorry," they said again, grinning sheepishly. Ayame ushered Hana and Tohru into his apartment for tea while Uo and Kureno had some alone time.

Tohru walked up the stairs into Ayame's apartment with ease, and then lost her breath when she saw the landing. There were original designs and descriptions framed on the walls, and everywhere you looked there was clothing.

"I've never seen so much fabric in one area." Tohru said.

"I bet this place would burn quickly." Hana commented. They both turned to her with looks of 'did-she-really-just-say-that?' "What? I'm not saying that I'd torch the place, but with all the fabric sitting up here, it's be and easy target for an arsonist."

"Hana…are you a pyromaniac?" Tohru asked.

"Do I look like one to you?" she replied smiling a little.

"No! Oh, no!" Tohru replied worried.

"Now, Hana, I believe," Ayame said, "Are you really going with Yuki-kun?"

"Yes," she said wearily, "Is there something wrong Ayame-san?"

"Well…yes and no," he told them, and he started to tell her about the zodiac and its story.

"Ayame-san!" Tohru exclaimed.

"Tohru-chan, she has to know if she's to date Yuki-kun…that Uo girl too. Kureno's in the zodiac as well… so she might as well find out." Ayame said with a final tone in his voice.

"But what will Akito think?" Tohru protested.

"Yes…what will Akito think?" a voice said, they all turned and standing in the doorway of Ayame's apartment was Akito. He looked ominous, and it was like a rain cloud was gathering to drench them.

"A-Akito!" Ayame said scared, "I'm so sorry!"

"You filthy, two-faced animal." Akito told him, "You were about to tell her the secret weren't you?"

"No I-" he started.

"It's not that hard to figure out now…" Hana spoke up, Akito glared at her.

"And how is that?" he asked darkly.

"You, have waves of thunder, almost like the gods-" she started.

"I am god!" Akito roared. He walked closer to Hana and Tohru felt her body moving in front of her.

"No," she told him, "Leave Hana-chan alone!"

"You think that you can stop me?" he asked her and then started to laugh. He walked forward and stood in front of Tohru with Hana sitting behind, "Move you, stupid girl!"

"Tohru is not stupid!" Uo said from the doorway, "And any jackass who says so answers to me!" Uo punched Akito on the head, and he was knocked out. They all stared at her, "What?"

"You just hit Akito…" Kureno said.

"And?"

"Even I wouldn't do that!" he told her.

"IS MY APARTMENT A MEETING PLACE OR SOMEHTING?" Ayame screeched. They all looked at him, "Terribly sorry, it just slipped. Heh, heh…"


	4. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

"Kyo-kun!" Tohru called, "We need your help!" Hana, Uo, and Tohru had dragged the unconscious body of Akito back to Shigure's.

"Coming," he replied and she heard him close the door to his room and run down the stairs, "What is-" He saw Akito and looked at her, "Are you nuts?"

"Uo punched him out," Tohru explained, "Kureno suggested that we bring him here."

"Right…" he said, "SHIGURE!"

"What?" someone moaned from the kitchen. Tohru walked in and saw Shigure sitting at the table with a bowl of soup in front of him.

"Shigure-san!" Tohru cried, she walked over and felt his forehead, "Why are you eating cold soup?"

"Cold? It was warm…" he said, "I must've dozed off…"

"Do you want me to heat it up for you?" Tohru asked.

"No, Shigure will eat it cold." Hana said, "Otherwise he will not be eating tonight."

"Since when were you in charge?" Kyo commented.

"I'm not." Hana said, "Shigure just listens to what I'm saying and he obeys."

"Right…" Kyo said.

"He's just like a well-trained dog." Hana told them.

Shigure choked on his soup and nearly spat it back out. He dribbled it down his chin and stared at her.

"Oh… right…" Tohru said, "They know about the curse."

"WHAT?" Kyo exploded.

"Aaaw! Gimme a hug!" Uo said hugging Kyo to prove the point. He turned into his cat form and ran away to his room.

"Now that I know Shigure's the dog, Kyo's the cat, Kureno's the rooster… I wonder what Yuki-kun is?" Hana whispered quietly to herself.

"Hana…" He said walking in and over Akito's body- maybe it was better off not knowing sometimes- he came over and they kissed.

"On second thought…I don't want to know." She smiled.

"Don't want to know what?" Yuki whispered into her ear.

"What animal you are." Hana said, blocking out all the other waves except for his. He jumped and looked at her.

"How do you know?"

"Your brother told me." She replied. He looked at her and smiled, then kissed her again.

"Sorry to break-up the lovely couple," Uo said. "But-"

"Like you have any right to talk Uo-chan." Hana told her friend smiling. Yuki grasped her hand and she felt a shiver go up her spine, Yuki was so sweet.

"Right…" she commented thinking back to the shop and blushing, "But what about that 'Akito' dude?"

"Eh? Akito-san is here?" Shigure asked rather alert.

"Yeah," Tohru said, "Uo-chan knocked him out because he was about to hurt Hana, but I was all like, 'No!' and he was all like, 'You're stupid!' so I was all worried and then Uo came in and she was like, 'You jackass!' and-"

"Tohru?" Kyo asked, he had come down at the start of her rampage and had slowly brought her away from the group into the living room.

"Eh?"

"You're not stupid, and you're not dumb," he told her, and then he kissed her forehead, "Just know that if anyone does anything to you, come to me. Tohru, I love you."

Tohru stood there, now she really felt dumb. Akito stirred and Kyo kicked him.

"Stupid Yankee," he muttered then called, "Yo' Uo! You didn't do such a hot job, he's starting to wake up."

"Well what did you want me to do? Kill him?" she yelled back.

"Yes." He said smiling. Tohru laughed and then sighed, they weren't killing each other; this was good.

"Why, what's he done to you?" Uo asked.

"A lot of things that I will never say, and there's no force in heaven or on earth that'll get me to tell you." He snapped and crossed his arms.

"Aaaw… cat got your tongue?" she asked spitefully.

"Damn woman!" he cried.

"Hey!" Shigure cried from the kitchen, "Women are wonderful!"

"So says the pervert." Yuki muttered. Hana giggled and Uo gave her a surprised look, Kyo and Tohru came back into the kitchen.

"See? At least one of the men in this house appreciates women!" Uo told him.

"More than you know." Kyo coughed. Tohru gave him a weird look and then glanced over at Yuki and Hana.

They were holding hands and looking into each other's eyes, they had small smiles on their faces. It was like they were communicating without having to speak, it seemed really romantic. She was going to try it with Kyo!

She looked long and hard at Kyo, he quirked an eyebrow and asked, "What's up with you?"

"Eh? I was trying to communicate without having to open my mouth." She said panicking.

"Tohru?"

"Mm?"

"You're really funny you know that?" he said wrapping a gentle arm around her shoulders.

"Aaaw!" Uo exclaimed, "slapping" him on the back. Kyo grumbled some foul words, but turned back to Tohru.

"Kyo-kun?"

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Why do you hate Akito-san?"

"…!" He looked at her and took a sharp intake of breath; "He's the only person that I know that'd hurt you."

"What's that got to do with it?"

"Everything." He said and he kissed her again.

"Awkward!" Shigure sung. He looked at all the couples and sighed, "If only Ayame could see you now…"

"Shut up before I make you." Yuki said darkly, and glaring at him. Hana detected some bitterness between them, but it quickly evaporated. Hana was still clutching the bag from Ayame's that was containing her dress, just like Uo was holding her own. They all had dresses, and Hana could sense that this dance was going to be important… very important.

"Hana?" Yuki was asking.

"Oh!" she realized blushing, he'd been talking to her and she'd completely zoned out! "I'm sorry! What?"

"Do you want to go out for supper?" he asked.

"Umm… sure!" She shrugged happily. A date! "Is anyone else coming?"

"If Tohru and Kyo want to come, that's okay," Yuki said, "Uo can even invite Kureno-san!"

"Yay!" Uo exclaimed, jumping up and diving for the phone. She picked up the earpiece and stood there frozen.

"What's wrong Uo-chan?" Tohru asked.

She cracked up and tears filled her eyes she was laughing so hard, "I don't even know his number!"

"Someone's lost it," Kyo muttered.

"Kyo-kun!" Tohru exclaimed.

He smiled weakly at her, "So! Which restaurant are we going to?"

Yuki pulled him aside and glared at him, "Don't forget so easily, Honda-san's illness! We need a place that goes easy on the calories!"

"Right… why not let Hana choose? I'm sure that she'll choose a nice, healthy, hopefully not gothic, place for us to eat." Kyo suggested.

"I hate to say it, but good idea."


	5. Chapter12

Chapter 12:

"Tohru-kun, what do you want to eat?" Uo asked, pulling her eyes off of Kureno just long enough to ask a question, his eyes were glued to her as well.

"Hmm…" she said thinking, Kyo gave a sideways look at Yuki. So much for healthy and nice! Hana had chosen a steak restaurant that used more lard and fat combined then ever thought possible.

"Why here?" Kureno groaned quietly. He hated watching people eat chicken, none the less order chicken wings.

"Are you all ready to order?" a waitress asked them, too happy to be natural, even for Tohru's standards.

"I think so," Yuki said, "Ladies first."

Uo jumped at this opportunity, "I'll have the chicken basket with a side order of French fries!" Kureno looked like he was going to choke, but managed to keep his cool.

"I'll have the ribs," Tohru said pleasantly.

"I'm going to have the ribs with the extra barbeque sauce." Hana answered, handing the lady the menus. The guys placed their orders and they bought an appetizer, as they waited things were…interesting.

"So Kyo," Kureno asked intently, "How is it that you mustered up the courage to ask Tohru to the dance?"

"Well…" he started, "I just kind of asked her. Right, Tohru-chan?"

"Yes!" she replied happily, Yuki twitched.

Tohru held hands with Kyo under the table while Hana had Yuki's arm wrapped around her. Hana would've been able to fly if he'd wanted her to. She felt like she was going to be sick in a good way, like there was something floating in her stomach, bubbles almost, dancing around. She wasn't really hungry, but the ribs here were great. Yuki on the other hand felt like he wanted to crawl under a rock, he hadn't expected Kyo and Tohru to _actually_ come along, what with Kyo and his stubbornness. No, they decided to "tag" along, and it made him nervous to see Kyo in such high spirits.

"Earth to Yuki!" Uo was saying, he snapped out of his thoughts.

"Eh?"

"How did you and Hana hook up?" Kureno asked patiently.

"For someone with a very active social life, you sure want to know a lot about my minuscule one," Yuki commented, "It's not that hard when I think about it…"

"What he means is that it was an accident." Hana said for him. Yuki gave her a grateful look and kissed her cheek, making her blush furiously.

"An accident?" Kyo asked.

Yuki glared at him, "Well, yes, what happened was-"

He was rudely interrupted by a heavy sigh from in front of the table. There was the Prince Yuki Fan Club, standing next to Hana, glaring at her when Yuki acknowledged them.

"Who're you?" one asked. Tohru looked at them, wondering if it really was their intent to stalk him everywhere.

"I'm-"

"She's my girlfriend." Yuki said, cutting Hana off.

They all gasped and narrowed their eyes at her, "And why are you dating the _freak_?" It sounded like it was more than one syllable when that person said it.

"Look," Uo said getting up from her chair, "If you want a fight, come and get it. I'm not backing down from anyone of you."

"Heh, heh…" they said simultaneously, and shuffled away, hissing at Hana as they left.

"That was weird." Tohru commented quietly, thinking back to the night when they kept on calling.

"Can't they leave me alone for one bloody night?" Yuki exclaimed.

"No need to swear here," Kureno said, "They're just admirers."

"Right… do you even know what they do during school?" Kyo said, "I can't get a quick fight with him without all of them crowding around him and doing their stupid dance and song!"

"In short Kureno," Hana said, "They're psychotic."

"Thank you Hana-chan." Yuki said pulling her closer. Hana had to resist the urge to hug him in public, it was a horrible temptation, but if she did, Yuki couldn't trust her; and his trust was very important. Hana felt the waves of everyone around her; Uo's was a little too overwhelming. It felt like a thousand birds were singing in her head, and like a mighty river was washing away the tough girl inside. Kureno was doing some serious damage to her.

Uo was looking at the desert menu when dinner arrived. The appetizer had been good, but she wanted more food. The waitress put an enormous basket of fried chicken breast in front of her and Uo breathed in its fatty and greasy aroma.

"Mmm…" she said as she waited for everyone to get what he or she'd ordered.

Tohru's pate was enormous, but smelled great! The pile of ribs nearly hid her face and she was looking around it to talk to people. Hana's was just as high with an even more enticing smell. Kureno looked on with horror as Uo ate the basket of chicken without a thought as to what was in it. Hana realized why Kureno wasn't eating his food and pulled her aside.

"Uo-chan," Hana told her, "do you know what you're eating?"

"Chicken." She shrugged.

"What animal in Kureno?"

"The rooster."

"And?"

"And what?"

"What is a chicken?" Hana asked.

"A bird."

"No! What is it a relative to? What is a male chicken?"

"A rooster…" Uo said, "Oh." It suddenly clicked that she was eating the very animal that he turned into. How uncomfortable must that be? -To watch your girlfriend eat your relatives?

"Now, what are you going to do when you return?" Hana asked.

"Umm… eat my French fries?"

"Very good, and then?"

"Then… I'll become vegetarian!" Uo exclaimed. The word resounded out through the restaurant and no one moved; all was silent. "What?"

"You just said the 'V' word in the biggest steak place in the world." Hana told her, sidestepping her back to the table and trying to settle in without being noticed by the others. After that, the service was a lot slower and a lot ruder. The lady completely ignored her when she ordered the cherry pie, and then when she brought out the food, in fact, she hadn't even brought it out for her! Uo wasn't complaining though, since Kureno was more than willing to share his lemon icebox pie.


	6. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

It was the day of the dance, and Tohru was allowed to go home early (as well as the other girls) so that they could get ready. Hana and Uo went to their homes, but they agreed to meet at Hana's and pick up the limo there at around six thirty. Tohru was especially nervous because she was going to wear make-up, she was going to go early so that Hana could oversee the whole process, which meant Kyo and Yuki were going to have to deal with each other for a whole afternoon. That was what was making her worried the most. Tohru had asked Shigure to drop her off, if it was okay with him, at Hana's house, and he eagerly accepted.

"Thank you Shigure-san!" she called, walking into the apartment building. Shigure waved and sped away with his car. Tohru took the elevator, though she would've taken the stairs if she'd not been carrying the dress. She knocked on Hana's apartment door and it immediately flew open and Hanajima's mother brought her in.

"Hana's in her room," she told her, taking her light jacket and hanging it up. Tohru walked through the cramped living room and by Megumi's room. He was sitting on his computer chair, downloading something. She knocked on her door, and the music she heard playing stopped.

"Tohru-kun!" she exclaimed happily, and ushered her in.

"Hey Hana-chan! I'm here… obviously." She said laughing. Hana seemed so free since she started dating Yuki; it was really working out well for her. She was so much more at ease about things, and she much more likely to laugh or smile now. It almost took a second or two for Tohru to realize that Hana had been smiling non-stop for the past week whenever Yuki was mentioned.

"What kind of look do you want?" she asked when they settled down.

"I was hoping that you could do one for me." Tohru said sheepishly.

Hana looked at her and laughed, "Are you sure? I mean I could really mess up and then you'd look really stupid for the prom."

"I trust you." Tohru said reassuringly.

Hana smiled, ''Let's see what I have here…" Hana dug through her drawer and finally gave up, took out the drawer and put it in front of Tohru. "Choose."

"Huh?"

"Choose colors that you think are going to look well with you and the dress," she explained, "Just pick colors you like."

"Oh!" she said, Tohru studied her dress and brought out a lot of purple shades, and then she brought out a few dark blue ones.

"Those the colors you think will look good?" Hana asked.

"Yes…"

"Can I make a suggestion?" she asked, Tohru nodded, "I do want to try a look with you, I don't know how it'll come out, but I want to try."

"What look's that?"

"A smoky look," she told her. Hana took out the grays and light purples, "I think that Kyo's going to eat his heart out when he sees you."

"Really?"

"Mm-hm." She said, "Now close your eyes."

After and few minutes Hana had turned on the music again, and Tohru was overpowered with all the heavy guitar, drums, and lyrics. Even though it was hard to understand, she felt her head bob whenever Hana wasn't working on her make-up.

"Who is this?" Tohru asked.

"I dunno,'' Hana said, "some American band, Megumi downloaded it for me."

"When is it gonna be done?" Tohru asked again.

"Just wait a few minutes for it to set and you'll be good." Hana told her, "I think that it looks spectacular."

"Cool!"

"Stupid! I told that this was the right apartment!" Yuki whispered harshly as he and Kyo waited in the lobby.

"Whatever." Kyo muttered back. They sat in the cold armchairs that reflected their feeling towards each other perfectly.

"We would've gotten here earlier, but no! We had to take the _short cut_! Are you kidding me?" Yuki was still ranting when Hana came down and pecked Yuki on the lips, and then he shut up.

"Where's Tohru-kun?" Kyo asked.

"She's coming." Hana said, "But she first had to borrow something of mine."

"What's that?"

"Kyo-kun!" someone exclaimed. The doors of the elevator had just opened, and Tohru walked out with a certain stance that Kyo'd never seen. She seemed confident, and then there was something in her eyes, she had a glint of mischief and playfulness. She looked like she was walking right out of his dreams and into his reality.

Her dress accented her figure, and she had a line of silver bracelets each with a unique design on it. The bracelets were accompanied with a black purse dangling form her wrist. Tohru's nails were painted purple with an iridescent sparkle when the light hit them right. Her hair was pulled into two French braids on either side, cascading into pools of curls at her shoulders about halfway. She had on lace up sandals that hugged her calves, making her look like a Greek goddess. Tohru was breathtaking.

Hana on the other hand was in a much lighter color. She wore her hair all the way up in a bun. Her nails were French-manicured, and she had on a gold chain around her wrist with a pale yellow purse. She felt all eyes on her, even from the lobby manager, he never saw her in a color other than black. She liked the extra attention, this wasn't just her night though; it was every other senior girl's that belonged to their high school, but she liked to think that it was. She felt so special and loved, almost nervous for the night ahead of them.

"Wow." Kyo mustered when he had finally had finished looking at Tohru.

"Double wow." Yuki said looking at Hana.

Hana and Tohru blushed. "Where's Uo-chan?" Tohru asked.

"Right here!" someone said. Kyo's mouth dropped as he saw Uo walking in with Kureno.

Her baby blue eyes were alit with bliss. She wore her hair in a loose bun with half of her hair down, accenting her delicate facial features, which neither of the boys had ever noticed. She had on widely spaced fishnets and reveled in the pair of knee high boots since the dress cut off at mid-thigh. She also had on a silver ring that looked like a braid. The only word the three of them was "gorgeous", and that is what they were: gorgeous to the last centimeter.

"When's the limo going to get here?" Uo asked impatiently.

"In about five minutes." Hana told them checking her cell phone.

The faint sound of a car's horn was heard after about ten, but it felt like two forevers and infinity to them. Kureno was reluctant to go with Uo to a dance, but when Uo explained that it was the prom, he decided to go.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Tohru exclaimed as they pulled away from the curb.

"Indeed, Tohru-kun!" Hana agreed, Yuki's arm was wrapped around her and she was enjoying the warmth.

"When is it supposed to end?" Kureno asked. They all gave huim a weird look, "I have work!"

"Around eleven." Yuki told him, "But everyone will more or less leave around two or three in the morning most likely."

"Wonderful…" Kyo said.

"Sorry we're keeping you from your beauty sleep." Yuki teased.

"Hey," he said shrugging, "I'm not the one who has to look good for a fan club everyday." Yuki glared at him for that one, and it was silent for the rest of the ride, that was until the school came into view.

"What have they done?" Tohru asked, gazing out onto the neon lit school.

"Every room has something different," Yuki said, "The theme for this year was the Bazaar, and so every room has something to do, get or buy."

"Cool." Uo said, summing up all of their thoughts.

"The courtyard's the main dance floor, we put a tarp over it and then put the speakers and DJ in the middle, all the dancing takes place around the courtyard, except for the slow dances, they can take place on the lawn." Yuki explained.

"Yuki," Hana said, he turned, "Awesome." Hana kissed him and they got out of the car, telling the driver where to pick them up when they were done (around one).

It was going to be one fun night…


	7. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

Tohru pulled Kyo out of the area with all the fish and into the area with all the flowers, the school garden. The bushes had white lights just touching the surface; Tohru walked up to the weeping willow tree and pulled aside the branches. She dragged Kyo underneath and up to the trunk of the tree.

"Give me a boost Kyo-kun?" she asked. He looked startled as he helped her up into the branches, she took out a knife and Kyo stared in horror. It was just like how his mother had looked the night she'd died! Tohru pushed back her bracelets and the hand with the knife was shaking. In one fluid movement Kyo was up there, hugging her, smothering her with all his might.

"Kyo-kun?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"What're you doing?"

"Eh? I thought that you were going to… I'm an idiot." He said. Tohru was in his arms, still clutching her knife and smiling up at him.

"Kyo!" she laughed, "How could I kill myself? I have too much to look forward to, to even consider suicide! Kyo, I love you, I just couldn't do that to you."

He looked at her, stunned by the words she had just uttered.

"You know something?" Kyo asked smiling.

"What?"

"I love you too." He said hugging her. He turned into a cat but didn't care; Tohru loved him!

"Oh no!" she cried, then started to laugh, "Kyo-kun, you are wonderful!" Kyo beamed and snuggled up to her. Tohru started to carve into the tree 'Kyo+Tohru' and when she finished, she enclosed it in a heart.

"I think I saw them go in here.'' A voice called a few minutes later. At that moment Kyo changed back, and was frantically trying to get dressed when Uo pulled back the curtain of branches.

She stood there paralyzed. Kyo was standing in his boxers, Tohru's hair was messed up, and some of her bangles were missing. Very incriminating.

"What were you two doing?" she asked slyly.

"Absolutely nothing!" Kyo exclaimed.

"Uh-huh…" she said crossing her arms and quirking a suggestive eyebrow, "You two have been going out for only, what? A month?"

"A month tomorrow." Tohru corrected happily, "It's okay Uo-chan, nothing happened."

"Whoa, really?" Kyo asked about the one-month anniversary.

"Yeah, dumb one!" Hana said, and then muttered, "You're as bad as Yuki I swear."

"Wait…what's Yuki bad at?" Kyo asked interested.

"Telling time and keeping dates right," Hana said rolling her eyes.

"Really?"

"He's asked me if it was Friday, when it was Wednesday once," Uo said.

"If the Prince Yuki Stalker Club ever found out about this…" Kyo said thinking.

"Plot later, get dressed now." Uo ordered. Kyo realized he was in his boxers with three girls staring at him and pulled himself to the other side of the tree trunk.

"So…" Uo asked nudging Tohru, "Nothing really did happen, huh?"

"Nope, Uo-chan! We were…" Tohru didn't know what her friends would say about her carving in the tree, maybe she shouldn't tell them.

"You were what?" Hana asked concerned.

"Never mind, it's embarrassing," Tohru muttered.

"Details. Now." Uo demanded with a smirk.

"I…"

"C'mon Tohru-kun, just tell us!" Uo said.

"Alright," Tohru caved, "WeweresittinginthetreeandIwasgoingtotcarve aheartintothetreeandthenKyowaslike 'ohno!' and then iwaslike 'what' andthenwekissedandthenheturnedintoacat, and then you cameand-"

"Tohru!" Hana shouted, Tohru stopped and looked at her friend, "Slower, _much _slower. Okay?"

"Yes!" Tohru said, her heart was beating quickly now and she was trying to ignore it. Somehow what happened in the tree with Kyo she didn't want to tell them, just keep it as a happy memory, one that she could slip into in her dreams… yes, that's what she wanted. "But I said it once, and I don't really want to say it again, at any speed in any language…please understand, I didn't do anything, but I just want to keep that moment to myself. You understand, right?"

"Of course Tohru-kun," Hana said smiling.

"Say Tohru?" Kyo asked coming from behind her, his tie was hanging around his neck loosely, and then he whispered into her ear, "Do you want to go dance?"

"Sure," she whispered back. Kyo laced fingers with her and they walked away after Tohru waved goodbye to Uo and Hana.


	8. Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

Tohru walked with Kyo briskly and they came to the courtyard. Tohru looked around in awe, Kyo just crossed his arms and went "Humph!"

"What's wrong Kyo?" Tohru asked.

"Nothing's wrong, I just thought of something though…"

"What?"

"I think I want to be an architect."

"… As in 'design-people's-houses' architect?" Tohru asked stunned. Kyo turned to look at her and then smiled.

"I'm joking." He said and Tohru laughed. A slow song came on and Kyo glanced at Tohru, as if asking her to go onto the dance floor. She nodded and they walked out onto the dance floor together. People stopped and stared, it was now official: Tohru was going out with Kyo.

"Why are they staring at us?" Kyo asked as they reached a spot they both liked.

"I don't know," Tohru answered. At that time all eyes were diverted to Hana and Yuki who had just entered the dance floor. The Prince Yuki Fan Club let out a gasp of horror as Yuki put his arm around Hana's waist and they started to dance. Kyo looked at Tohru, hoping that she knew what they were supposed to do… she didn't.

"Umm… what're we supposed to do now?" Kyo asked after copying Yuki.

Tohru was stiff; no one had ever held her by her waist before. It was a little scary, but she got used to it and then started to sway to the music, and that's all they did, shuffle their feet and sway to the music.

"Tohru-chan?" Kyo whispered into her ear.

"Yes Kyo-kun?" she asked back.

"Why are we dancing?" he asked, "I mean honestly, I can't dance, I don't know if you can, but together, we're not doin' such a hot job."

Tohru laughed quietly, "Yes, I think you're right, maybe it's my balance…" Tohru's heart was racing and it didn't seem to want to slow down, maybe it was from being so close to Kyo. Yes, that was it, she was nervous! -But nervous of what?

"No! Nothing is wrong with you," Kyo reassured, he looked at her and pushed away a stray piece of hair that had fallen in front of her eye, "You're perfect."

Tohru blushed and smiled absently; she could hear her heart pumping the blood into her cheeks. It was still racing, and as she pressed against Kyo, he could feel it.

"Tohru…" he said, then he felt her forehead, "You're burning up Tohru! Are you feeling well?"

"Eh?" she asked, all of a sudden she was very dizzy. Her knees felt weak and they collapsed under her. She fell to the floor and a heavy metal song came on.

"Oh no!" Kyo said. People were rushing into the pit, flailing arms and hands were everywhere. He needed to get Tohru out of here _now_. He looked at the ground where she had been lying, but she wasn't there. Where was she?

A body was being moved around on top of the crowd, and then Kyo realized… it was Tohru!

"TOHRU!" Kyo cried, but was drowned out by the guitar blaring from the speakers. He pushed his way through the crowd and found himself right next to the bass speaker, his eardrums were not happy.

"Tohru!" he shouted again, this time he was able to grab her down and hold her just before one of the band members jumped into the audience. Somehow, this didn't seem to have been part of the plan. He had to find Uo; she was the only one here with a cell phone.

"Uo!" he shouted upon seeing Kureno, where there was Kureno, Uo was sure to be only a few feet away.

"Hey Kyo," he said turning around, "Would you happen to know where Uo-chan is right now? I can't find her."

"Damn." Kyo muttered.

"What happened to Tohru-kun?" Kureno asked looking Tohru over. The dress that she was wearing was getting a little heavy.

"She's not doing well, we need to get her to a hospital, Hatori can't do anything for this." Kyo told him.

"C'mon," he said, "The limo's in the back, when you get to the hospital I'll take it back and then wait it out until Uo and Hanjima come looking for me."

"You're not all that bad." Kyo commented as they pushed their way out of the mosh pit and into the deserted parking lot. The limo was sitting on the side pf the road, when the driver saw them he turned on the engine and drove up.

"What's wrong?" he asked indicating Tohru, "Had a little too much to drink?"

Kyo fought the temptation to break his head off and throw to another country, but Kureno spoke up.

"Look, she just fainted, and that's it," he said, "We need to get to the hospital."

"Right." The guy said seriously. He opened the back door and Kyo got in with her while Kureno sat in the passengers seat.

"Step on it!" he said, and the man sped away from the curb, and they drove off into the night.


	9. Chapter 16

Chapter 16:

Kyo sat in the back seat holding Tohru's hand. _'Oh, God, please don't let her die… I've never asked you for anything before…please don't let her die. She means the world to me, I love her…please…' _Kyo wanted to kiss her and tell her it was okay, but she seemed to be fighting something. They reached the hospital after fifteen minutes of steady praying.

Tohru was lying in a meadow. The sun was shining, and she could feel the rays warming her skin. She had on a dress that was her mother's; it was white with red polka dots. The dress that her mother had worn the day she'd gone to her first parent-teacher conference. That day had been quite odd…

"Mom?" Tohru had asked.

"Yeah?" her mother responded, putting on some high boots.

"What're you doing?"

"I'm getting ready," her mother said and then patted her head, "One day, when you're all grown up, and you have kids of your own, you'll get to dress up for stuff like this."

"Really?" Tohru asked awe inspired.

"Yup," she said smiling, "I'll be back soon Tohru-kun, go to bed at nine if I'm not home by then, okay?"

"Yes," she replied and bid her mother safe travels.

Tohru's eyes filled with tears. Where was she? She wasn't wearing the same clothes like she had been before. She curled up into a little ball and started to cry tears of grief.

"I'm lost!" she whispered through tears, "Mom! Where are you?"

Kyo sat in the waiting room, and the whole "waiting" thing… yeah, that wasn't working too well. He stalked up the corridor and back down the corridor so many times that he was dizzy, but nevertheless, he kept on walking and worrying. Was Tohru going to be okay? The doctors wouldn't tell him anything. A little kid had been following him for some time now.

"What do you want?" he snapped at the child.

"Hi!" he said undiscouraged, "My name's Kumara!"

Kyo was stunned by this kid's straight-forwardness, "I'm Kyo."

"Nice to meet you Kyo-sensei!" the kid said. Kyo'd never been called sensei before.

"Kid, why are you calling me sensei?"

"You're teachin me."

"Teaching you what?"

"I dunno!" the kid said smiling. Kyo for the first time in an hour smiled.

Tohru was still crying in the meadow when someone thrust a tissue at her. She took it, wiped her eyes, and then looked at who'd given it to her. They were turned away from her, hiding.

"Thank you." Tohru said quietly. They turned and Tohru gasped, it was Akito! "I'm so sorry Akito-san!"

"It's okay," he said smiling, "You didn't know." There was something different about him… maybe it was because he had smiled, or it was because Tohru got the feeling that he was trying to be nice to her.

"What're you doing here?" she asked cautiously.

"This is where I go when I'm in trouble." He said.

"Like when you get yelled at by someone?" she asked.

"No," he replied flatly, "This is where I go when I feel like I'm losing the family… when I feel alone."

"Oh," Tohru said, "But you have a… I don't know what to call it, a…?"

"A leash on the whole family?" he finished for her, "Tohru-chan, in here I can visit all the family members who've passed away. In here, I feel like I belong."

"Akito-san… why are you telling all this to me?"

"Because you deserve better than I've been treating you." He snapped, "I'm not good with my temper as you can see, but Kyo said something to me… he told me that I needed love… Tohru, I am asking this and I want you to answer truthfully, I will not do anything to you, for fear of the zodiac spirits, they like you."

"Oh, why?"

"Because you're trying to break the curse." He said, "How would you like to be a celestial power and have to be tied down to a human?"

"I see…"

"Look, I want to know what you think," he said, "Do you think that I have control issues?"

"Umm… I don't think that you have control _issues_ per say, but you do like to have your way with people." She said quietly.

He smiled and offered her his hand, "Thank you."

"Sure!" she said taking it and he helped her to stand.

"Another question," he said to her, "do you think anyone could love me?"

"Akito-san," Tohru tried to answer, "the whole family does love you."

"No they don't."

"Sure they do! All you have to do is start to treat them with more respect and regard their feelings more kindly." She said smiling.

"I could see how Kyo-san likes you so much." He commented.

Kyo was sitting with the kid and thought about how much he was helping him. He would run down the corridor with him until they got yelled at. Then Kyo told him the story of the zodiac, and somehow this kid knew. He knew that Kyo was telling him for a reason.

"Are you Kyo Sohma?" a nurse asked.

"Yes?" he asked shooting back to reality.

"Tohru has just stabled, and she is doing fine now." The nurse told him, "But the doctor wants to keep her here until the x-ray results come back."

"That's great!" he exclaimed, "Can I go in and see her?"

"Sure, if she's awake."

"What do you mean?" Kyo asked.

"Sir, Tohru is in a coma." The nurse stated.

His world came crashing down in front of him and he couldn't do anything to stop it. 'This shouldn't be happening!' he thought, 'Why did this happen? What was so stressful?'

"Kyo-sensei?" Kumara asked quietly.

"Do you want to come in and see her?" he asked as a tear formed in his eye. Kumara smiled and took his hand as Kyo led him into the room.

Immediately, Kumara ran up to her and looked at her face.

"She's really pretty," he stated.

Kyo smiled and looked at her flushed face, "Yeah, she's beautiful."

"Kyo-sensei?"

"Yeah?"

"Who's he?" Kumara said pointing to the doorway.

Kyo turned and saw Akito there, he walked through, guiding something. First he saw the faint outline of a hand, then an arm until he saw the dress and body.

"Tohru…?" he asked with tears streaming down his cheeks.

"No," Akito said, stopping Kyo as he went to hug her, "If you touch her Tohru-chan will die."

"It's true Kyo-kun," she said smiling, she too had tears in her eyes, "I need to go back into my body, Akito took me."

"Huh?" Kyo asked confused.

"I found her roaming the Field of the Zodiac." He said, and led her to her body; "I was able to save her from death Kyo-san."

"Why would she have died?"

"The field is only for people of the zodiac." He said.

Tohru looked down at herself and thought, 'This is what I must look like to others… what's gonna happen to me?'

"Tohru-kun…" Kyo said, "They said that you're in a coma…"

"A coma, huh?" she smiled, "I can live with that, I've dealt with worse."

"Worse? Like what?" he asked.

There was another knock on the door; Hatori was standing there drenched.

"What happened to you?" Kyo asked turning.

"It's raining, stupid." He said, and looked past him to see Tohru.

Kyo turned, but Tohru's spirit had vanished.

"It's okay," Akito told him, "She just went into her body."

"What happened now?" Hatori asked annoyed.

"Tohru is going to be fine. I just know it." Akito said to Kyo, and for the first time, Kyo smiled at him and gave him a warm hug.


	10. Chapter 17

Chapter 17:

Tohru opened her eyes slowly. She felt a lurch in her heart, and felt like something was going through her veins. What was it? Something heavy was on top of her legs. She looked down and saw Kyo sleeping.

"Kyo-kun," she said moving her foot.

"Eh?" he mumbled.

"Wake-up." She said smiling.

"Tohru-kun?" he asked blearily. His eyes widened as he saw her sitting up in bed.

He dashed over to her and gave her a light kiss (forewarned by the nurse that she wouldn't be all that up to kissing) and held her just as lightly.

"Kyo-kun!" she exclaimed, and cried, "What happened?"

"We don't know…" Kyo answered.

"Liar." Yuki said.

"Yuki-kun!" she exclaimed.

"We've _all_ been keeping this from you." Yuki sighed and took a seat, "When you fainted a few weeks ago, Hatori said that it was due to a heart condition… we didn't want to hurt you-"

"So we kept it from you." Kyo finished.

"Why?"

"Because, the chances of you surviving were very slim," Yuki said, "Even Hatori predicted that you'd die. So, it actually turned out to be a blood clot related to the heart."

"Also," a voice said from a corner, "because we love you." Hatsuharu stepped out of the shadows. "Isn't that right, Rin?"

"I have to admit," she said next to him, "without you Tohru… I would probably still be cutting class and hanging out with the wrong crowd."

"What're you talking about? You still are." Kyo said.

"Shut-up, stupid cat!" she cursed at him.

"Kyo-kun is not stupid!" a familiar voice shouted back. Tohru stared as Kagura started cursing Rin out and then Tohru laughed. They all turned to stare at her.

"What's wrong?" she asked giggling.

"You're laughing…" Yuki said.

"And? You guys are just such a great family to watch," she said, "I am so thankful for Shigure taking me in; and Akito-san for letting me stay. I love all of you!"

"What about us!" Uo said from the doorway.

"Yes, Tohru-kun. What about us? Are we chopped liver?" Hana asked smiling.

"Uo! Hana-chan!" she exclaimed and they came over and hugged her.

"God! Don't ever do that to us again, do you hear? Ever!" Uo said crying. Kureno stood awkwardly in the corner as they hugged and cried.

"Only five visitors at a time." A nurse said coming in.

"Does this mean that I can't come in?" Momiji asked holding a bouquet of flowers.

"Momiji-kun!" she exclaimed.

"Hi, Tohru-chan!" he said dashing over.

"Oh my God!" Tohru said realizing something, "Kyo!"

"Yeah? What's wrong?" he asked panicked.

"You didn't change!"

"I know, you just fainted at the prom, and I didn't leave so I haven't been able to change clothes and-"

"No! When you hugged me, you didn't transform!" she smiled and he smiled back.

"That's right!" Hatsuharu agreed. "Try me!"

They hugged and he stayed human, as did Hatori, and Momiji, and Yuki (much glaring from Kyo), then Kureno, and when Shigure arrived, him too.

"Where's Ritsue?" Kagura asked.

"Out." Shigure grumbled.

"That's wonderful!" Tohru said.

"Not yet," Rin said, "what about us?"

"Go find a guy and hug them."

"Okay!" they both said and skipped out of the room looking for a guy.

"Wait," Tohru said to them, "Where's Kisa?"

"Right here." A tiny voice said, and the red head stepped forward. "How're you feeling, onee-chan?"

"I feel great!" she exclaimed and hugged her, holding Kisa's hand was Hiro, who was looking quite sheepish.

"Looks like a family reunion." A singsong voice floated in, Ayame stood in the doorway smiling.

"Ah, you made it." Shigure said, "Guess what?"

"What?"

"The curse has been broken." Shigure said smiling.

"I am quite the dramatic, and I indeed do stretch the truth from time to time," Ayame told them, "But I have _never_ heard a lie this preposterous."

"Hug me." Tohru told him.

"There is a nurse in the room."

"It's not like she'll see anything over all of us." Someone commented.

"Fine." He said pushing his way through to her bedside and hugged her.

"See, I changed." He said.

"Are you sure?" Yuki asked.

"Positive. Why?"

"Look _big-_brother."

Ayame looked at his reflection and nearly fainted, soon after Kagura and Rin came back in smiling broadly.

"It worked! We're free!" Kagura smiled.

"Either that or the guy we hugged was a-"

"Rin." Hatsuharu warned.

"Sorry…" she said blushing.

"I just realized something!" Shigure exclaimed happily, "I can now have-"

"Sick pervert," Yuki said covering his mouth, "Out. Now."

"Fine." He whined and started to leave.

"Wait!" Tohru cried, "We all have to be here for this!"

"For what?" Hana asked.

"I want Akito to step forward," Tohru said, and the group parted, revealing Akito standing in a corner alone.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Can you come here?" Tohru asked.

He stepped towards her, and was finally by her side.

"Hand." She said.

He extended it, and wearily she took it and got out of bed, stabling herself on him. He helped her to stand and smiled.

"Thank you." Tohru whispered to him as she hugged him and kissed him on the cheek.

"You are welcome to be a member of this family." He whispered back.

"I think I already am." She said and they faced the group gathered around her and every one gave her one big hug.


End file.
